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Topics: Health Care |
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| Are You Wasting Money on Health Insurance? |
Submitted by:
Tip Hero 03/23/2009 10:44 AM
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Even if you have health insurance, you may be one serious health problem away from bankruptcy. In fact, according to one study, over one-third of all bankruptcies were driven by medical problems effecting people who actually had health insurance.
That's one of the scary messages from a recent Time magazine cover story about health insurance. The reporter, having covered the health care industry for 15 years, walks us through a very sad and extremely frustrating story about her brother.
The bottom line? Even if you have insurance, you may not be protected from major medical problems effecting you or your family. While there are over 45 million Americans with no health insurance, there are many people in the United States who have insurance but are unaware just how inadequate it actually is:
"[The underinsured] may be all the more vulnerable because, until a health catastrophe hits, they're often blind to the danger they're in."
The article suggests avoiding short-term health insurance coverage. The article's author notes, referring to her brother, Pat:
"Pat's decision to save some money by buying short-term insurance was a big mistake, says Karen Pollitz, project director of Georgetown University's Health Policy Institute and a leading expert on the individual-insurance market. 'These short-term policies are a joke,' she says. 'Nobody should ever buy them. It is false security that is being sold. It's junk.'"
If you have short-term health insurance with a plan that renews every 6 months, you are seen as a new person every time you renew. So if you get diagnosed with an illness during one 6-month span, the next 6-month span of coverage may not cover treatment for that illness, as it is seen as a pre-existing condition. Furthermore, once ill, if you try to get a better plan, it will be difficult.
Again, referring to the reporter's brother:
"Now that he is sick, it would be nearly impossible for him to purchase another insurance policy on the individual market."
And even if you go with longer-term plans, if you're not part of a group, your costs for treatment is likely to be far more expensive than large group plans, since individuals have little leverage to negotiate for better rates.
To read the full article, click the link below.
The Health-Care Crisis Hits Home (Time magazine)
Photo credit: lemuelinchrist |
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