Question:
I need help in deciding the best most reasonable medical insurance plan for me? Is there a forum or people to ask? If I do a Google search and contact any of those links, I am inundated with calls for quotes. I don't know much about medical insurance and don't know where to start.
I'm 55 and want as much coverage as I can get without paying an arm and a leg. AND I want trustworthy insurance. I've only been to the doctor ONCE in 10 years since early retirement from my corporation. Unless I can find a better plan, I'm signing up with State Farm (Assurant Health) here in Texas, for a 5K deductible and after that total coverage for up to 8 million...and this covers me out of state also, no questions asked. This will cost me $267 a month. Better ideas anyone? My elderly parents think I need lower deductible in case of smaller problems. Where else can I check..I want a reputable company.

Thanks,
Diana


Answer:
The plan you are signing onto sounds quite reasonable to me. Since quotes vary from state to state, it's difficult to find something for you. An option for you would be to contact a representative in your previous office and ask them for some good contact numbers. Also, you could contact your local hospital's billing financial service department and they could guide you well. Good luck to you. Congrats on your great health status, by the way!


Answer:
Hey Diana, how are you doing?

Consider:Medicare currently pays only half of retirees’ medical expenses, and that proportion may drop as the system runs aground. Medicare is expected to run out of cash in 2019. That’s more than two decades before Social Security is expected to suffer the same fate.

The percentage of retiree medical expenses paid for by companies is expected to continue falling, as well. Fewer than 40% of large-company employers currently offer retiree health benefits, and research firm Watson Wyatt has estimated employers will pay for less than 10% of retiree medical costs by 2031.

Even now, one of the big potential expenses of retirement -- nursing home care -- typically isn’t covered by either Medicare or private employer plans. The typical three-year stay in such a facility usually costs upward of $150,000, and the tab can be much higher in urban areas or if round-the-clock care is provided at home.If medical inflation continues at its current breakneck rate of 14% a year, prospects for future retirees are even worse. Therefore, in this post we will discuss a high-deductable policy vs. a traditional insurance policy and how a traditional insurance insurance policy might benefit you most in the event you have a catastrophic illness, such as the one recently suffered by Christopher Reeve. (Weston Is the new wave of insurance right for you?)

The policy that you discovered from State Farm (Assurant Health) is what is referred to as "the new wave in health insurance." These are not insurance plans, but rather "Health savings Accounts" or Medical Savings Accounts or insurance reform plans.

As stated by GAIL SHEARER, Consumers Union:

Most people, they pay in their premiums for insurance, or their employer pays in their premiums each month, and they can count then on coverage when they get sick. What Medical Savings Accounts do is they let people who are healthy build up money in accounts and not necessarily use the money, and what it does is it, it drains money from the pot of money available to take care of people when they are sick, and the end result could be premiums that are much higher for people who want to stick with health insurance that pays after $250 has been spent.

It is recommended that you do not loose sight of that the most important function of insurance is catastrophic protection. And since it is undetermined when such a catastrophic would take place, it would not be wise to suspect that you will have time to build up enough coverage - then a catastrophe takes place. (Shearer Sick Days; Martingale Is the new wave of insurance right for you?)

Let's say that you purchased one of the new HSA's or MSA's in 2003. You make your first years payments which is $3,204 per year. It is now 2005. Now let's imagine that you "catch" cancer and your medical expense, medications, X-rays and in home care costed $30,000. Unfourtunately, you will have to only deposited $6,408 worth of premiums. Yes exactly, you will be out of pocket, $23,592. This does not account for the $3,500 medical expense that you must pay, first, before you are allowed to touch any of the money in your HSA or MSA. (Shearer Sick Days)

A more beneficial senero would be to purchase a 3,000,000 insurance policy in 2003. You may pay $600 per month (a higher premium). Then "catch" cancer in 2005, you would have only paid 14,400 in premiums, however, your policy will still cover the expense. Big difference isn't it?

Now that we have discovered how a traditional insurance policy with higher permium and a lower deductable would be the better option, our next complicated task is to decide with whom? This part may not be as difficult as one might think.

After a review of 25 posts on the AARP :: Community Message Boards, it is concluded that reputable companies that honor their customers claims are carriers such as AAA, MetLife - long term care, or Liberty Mutural - mainly because they are not caught in the insurance rubbish. In addition, The National Advisory Council for LTC (long term care) have a very informative website that reveals cost-cutting information and can also give quotes from advocate specialists.

Best wishes,

REFERENCES
Elizabeth Farnsworth: Sick Days
discussion about MSAs with Dr. Daniel Johnson, Jr., the president-elect of the American Medical Association, and Gail Shearer, the director of health policy analysis for Consumers Union; 6/1996.

Liz Pulliam Weston: Is the new wave in health insurance for you?
MSN Money; 2005.

AAPR :: Community Message Boards


The Prison Hospital

Prisoner: Look here, doctor! You've already removed my spleen, tonsils, adenoids, and one of my kidneys. I only came to see if you could get me out of this place!

Doctor: I am, bit by bit.