The Top Five Health Insurance Coverage Considerations for Retirement
Transitioning from Group Medical Insurance to individual health coverage can be a confusing and tedious process. These Top Five Tips will help ease your mind and the change.
- Plan Ahead.
- Begin your research for health coverage 12-18 months prior to retirement. Planning ahead to find out what type of insurance satisfy your (and your family’s) needs after retirement could save you a costly mistake. There are many options available for health, dental, vision, and life insurance. Thinking you found the perfect plan(s) for you and your family without discussing the details with a Broker or educating yourself about the laws and processes could wind you up un-insurable. Once you are deemed un-insurable by the insurance carriers, obtaining insurance can be extremely difficult.
- Planning ahead, by consulting with an Insurance Broker, will help you avoid such a catastrophe. Also, a Broker will handle the cumbersome and oft times confusing process of obtaining the right policy(ies) for you (and your family).
- Look into COBRA as your initial post-retirement option.
- Your employer must, by Federal Law, offer you (and those covered on your current health insurance policy) an 18-month continuation of coverage. You will be responsible for the premiums, but the continuation of health coverage is your legal right.
- COBRA is not an insurance carrier. Rather it is a law to provide you (and those currently covered under your plan) a Continuation of Health Coverage.
- If you are unfamiliar with COBRA, consult your HR representative at your place of employment, visit the COBRA website, or consult an Insurance Broker about your options. A Broker may be able to find a less expensive and better-suited option than COBRA.
- Careful attention ought to be paid to Medicare coverage. Most individuals find supplemental health coverage will be necessary in the long-term.
- Medicare does not provide the depth and breadth of health coverage that other insurance policies provide. Towards that end, you may require supplemental insurance. An Insurance Broker will guide you through the numerous choices to identify the best option(s) for you (and your family).
- Consult an Insurance Broker, rather than a Captive Insurance Agent, Carrier, or Website for these three reasons:
- Siphoning through the plethora of information on insurance websites can be daunting at best. Many individuals find insurance carrier websites confusing. A Broker, which is different from a Captive Insurance Agent, will translate the insurance information into a digestible, understandable format for you.
- Moreover, a Broker will find the best plan(s) for your specific situation, at the best rate/premium. A Captive Insurance Agent, on the other hand, represents only one insurance carrier (for example, Aetna or CIGNA), and that is the only insurance coverage they can offer you - one limited choice. A Broker, however, will match your needs with the right insurance carrier and plan – at the best rate.
- Most important, avoid applying for insurance on your own. Suppose you go to an insurance carrier’s website, and you think you’ve found the perfect health coverage plan for you only to learn later it doesn’t provide the coverage you originally thought. Then after submitting your application, you learn weeks later that you are denied coverage (for any number of reasons, such as a pre-existing condition). Underwriting laws can be convoluted. A Broker, however, will ensure you do not waste your time applying for insurance that you will be denied after weeks of research and application. Their job is to act as your consultant, and behave with your interests in mind. They will handle everything from finding the right policy(ies) and managing the underwriting process(es) for you.
- Plan for and Secure Final Expenses.
- Yes, we said it, the elephant in the room no one wants to talk about: Life insurance, planning, and pre-paying for your inevitable post-life situation.
- There are plenty of options, and a skilled Broker will help you identify the best choice for you with the least amount of stress.
- Your worst case scenario is leaving your loved ones picking up the pieces of a financial disaster along with their broken hearts. Plan and secure your Final Expenses with an expert Insurance Broker.
Image courtesy of www.whistlinginthedark.com
Travel Insurance in Pregnancy
Obtaining travel insurance during pregnancy can all depend on how far along you are and/or if a doctor writes you off as fit to travel.
Most pregnant women want to get away one last time before the burden of child-rearing consumes their lives for the next "x" amount of years. By the time 27 weeks rolls around, traveling gets a lot more complicated with insurers reluctant to give cover.
Some airlines have their own set of rules and cut-offs points. Before traveling, make sure to check with the booking agent, and tell them you're pregnant. Or, check the airline Web site to see what information they list under "pregnancies."
As pregnant women are considered relatively high risk, most insurers will not provide cover if you do not have at least eight weeks before your due date on the day you return from holiday. Other insurers have an even lower threshold and won’t insure you beyond 26 or 27 weeks pregnant. That means that while you could still claim for losses unrelated to your pregnancy, you would not be covered if you had to cancel your holiday or incurred costs because you're expecting.
Lastly, keep copies of the insurance policy on hand, and keep receipts in case you need to make a claim.
Common Mistakes Prior to Travel
I recently spoke with Cindy Chalou at the Michigan State University Study Abroad office about typical mistakes that students make prior to traveling abroad.
She said students suffering from pre-existing health conditions, "need to understand and know how to manage their condition in a different environment with different contingencies." Just because you haven't suffered any setbacks here, doesn't mean you're immune everywhere.
For example, you have asthma, but rarely suffer an attack because the environment you live in is clean. You then travel to London, which is notorious for its smog. The chances of suffering an asthma attack are far greater; and if it does happen, are you prepared? It's important to realize this and plan ahead so you don't suffer any abnormalities.
Work with your physician at home to make sure he gives you an adequate supply for prescribed medicine, so you're covered while you're overseas. Bring plenty of spare money that you could use to cover out-of-pocket expenses.
Remember, if you are required to visit the hospital, health care is not a customer driven enterprise like it is here in the US. You might not receive the best bedside manner that you would domestically. Going to the hospital can mean visiting the doctor for a check-up; there are different wings that cater to specific needs.
Look out for yourself and others while you're traveling. Exploring the world is meant to be fun, just make sure you're covered. 
Two Simple Tips for Selecting Travel Insurance
There are already a lot of articles on the Web pertaining to selecting the right travel insurance. Instead of repeating what has already been written, I'm going to paraphrase what's out there for the common folk. Because sometimes insurance details can be confusing with its ambiguity and jargon.
The first two questions you need to ask yourself is, "Where am I going and what will I be doing?" The type of insurance that would be right for you depends on answering these two questions.
For instance, if you're traveling to the remote location, "away from civilization, then you should get international travel insurance that covers the costs involved with searching, rescuing, and emergency evacuation."
The second part, "What will I be doing?", is important because you want to "make sure you choose Insurance Coverage to match any activity that you intend to undertake, so that you and your equipment are covered while participating, e.g. skiing, scuba diving etc."
Another point.
While most people think of travel insurance as pertaining to medical expenses, make sure to review the policy to see if it covers other things like "legal expenses,cancellation & curtailment, loss of money, baggage, passport, etc. and personal liability."
Basically, be smart and do your homework before you travel. It's a tedious process and no one likes to talk about how much money they're going to have to fork over for accidents that might not even happen. However, you'll never know when the extra time spent will pay off. "Sometimes medical costs can be astronomic and without sufficient insurance cover you could end up in serious trouble." Don't put yourself against the odds before you even leave.
Quotes courtesy of:
EzineArticles.
Student Traveler’s Insurance
Most of us, at one point or another, have taken a trip outside of the United States. Whether it be for study abroad, spring break, a family vacation - wherever. However, I'm willing to wager that a majority, didn't purchase traveler's insurance.
At one point, I interned abroad in London for a semester, and the only insurance I had was my parents'. When I was plagued with an infection, I was able to visit the hospital and receive adequate treatment to cure my ailment. If I didn't have insurance, who knows how long I would have had to deal with the pain and any future consequences?
I understand that some people may have had a poor experience with insurance brokers. If you purchase insurance, but don't use it, you lose. If you end up having to use it, you still lose - there's no way to win.
But I firmly believe that when traveling abroad, it is too great a risk not have student traveler's insurance. Your flight coming home might be canceled, your wallet might get stolen, you might get sick or injured, plans change - numerous unexpected events can happen!
By now, you're probably thinking, 'Okay, but none of that stuff will ever happen to me.' I thought the same thing too, trust me. But it was such a relief to have insurance when I needed it most, especially being in a foreign country.
Having proper student traveler's insurance allows you to travel more confidently, knowing that if anything were to happen, you're covered. Why would you want to "play it safe" when the opportunities to discover a country's hidden secrets lie off the beaten path?
Coverage obviously depends on your age, where you're going, how long your staying, etc. So I can't give you tangible figures, but typically, the cost is about five to seven percent of the trip cost.
When traveling abroad, make sure you keep yourselves safe (and your family stress-free) by doing the smart thing and covering yourself with student traveler's insurance.
New Health Insurance Legislation
Getting affordable health care has been a hot topic for both individuals and business alike over the past few years. Some have pointed blame at health insurance costs for the lack of job growth, as some small businesses have been unable to afford providing health benefits. Health care critics have taken to using the October 2nd economic report's findings where unemployment had risen to a rate of 9.8% to bolster their position.
Links
- Group Dental Insurance
- Group Health Insurance
- Individual Health, Life and Dental Insurance
- Senior Health Insurance
- Travel Medical Insurance
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Recent Posts
- The Top Five Health Insurance Coverage Considerations for Retirement
- Travel Insurance in Pregnancy
- Common Mistakes Prior to Travel
- Two Simple Tips for Selecting Travel Insurance
- Student Traveler’s Insurance
- New Health Insurance Legislation
