Sleep-at-night coverage with a Private Health InsuranceWritten by Ariful Anam
Sleep-at-night coverage with a Private Health InsuranceHealth Insurance: a sense of dissatisfaction The three C's, customization, consumerization and customer-satisfaction, seem to be at core of business mantra for every service provider. The health insurance provider industry is no exception to this rule. With an increasing concern among tax payers of US regarding number of people uninsured in country, there is a burgeoning market for providers. Even though, this seems to be a buyer's market, there seems to be a lot of dissatisfaction among people with red tape and bureaucracy involved in claims processing, exclusions and limitations. Based on a survey conducted a couple of years ago, only 1 in 4 Americans said, they are "very satisfied" with their medical coverage. In general, consent was that people were dissatisfied with bureaucracy of provider, rather than health plan itself. http://www.healthinsurancedepth.com Taking a closer look at Indemnity Plans Let us now try to take a microscopic view of intricacies of two major types of health insurance: Indemnity vis-à-vis Managed Care. The Indemnity is traditional fee-for-service plan allowing more flexibility in terms of choosing your physicians and health care providers in lieu of an annual deductible amount. This is also referred to as typical private or individual health insurance plan, tailored to person's situation. Exclusions are defined when you buy your policy for your particular scenario. Due to personalization nature of policy and subsequent risk exposure to insurer, this comes with a higher price tag. Exploring intricacies of a Managed Care Plan A Managed Care plan will typically restrict individual to visiting in-network set of physicians, hospitals and health care providers. This encompasses Group Health Insurance plan, usually extended as part of an employer benefit. A single policy is designed for a big group of individuals belonging to different age groups and with varied medical conditions. Due to economies of scale, in terms of risk distribution, these plans have lower premiums and out-of-pocket expenses than private health insurance plan. ( http://www.healthinsurancedepth.com )There are three variations of Managed Care plans: PPO (Preferred Provider Organization), HMO (Health Maintenance Organization) and POS (Point-of-Service). The in-line exclusions of these plans are a major concern, which are probably not always evident to policy holder till unforeseen happens. The provisions in policy are decided between insurer and policy owner (typically your employer). Due to restrictions imposed to visit doctors registered with plan, you may come across a situation where you do not have a doctor to treat your specific illness. Simple surgeries and diagnostic tests can add up to thousands of dollars in medical expenditures due to exclusions. In long run, lower premiums may not actually save your money due to these occasional exclusions/limitations. Thus, it always becomes an annoyance for consumer to choose a well-rounded managed care plan that covers all or most of medical diseases and/or illnesses.( http://www.healthinsurancedepth.com ) The bureaucracy and red tape involved in these policies to obtain authorizations and referrals even for slightest of variations, for cost control measures always lead to a lot of dissatisfaction. Typically, you are also required to go through a primary care physician (PCP) for any of your treatment needs and may not be able to get your treatment done with doctor of your choice to avoid excessive costs to insurer. http://www.healthinsurancedepth.com Private Health Insurance gives you freedom of choice! Comparing two major variations, private health insurance seems to be option to get peace of mind for your healthcare needs. With rising discontent among policy holders, this seems to be a more economically viable option for long run depending on your health conditions. It is all about "freedom of choice" and flexibility to guarantee you best medical care. The exclusions are defined at onset of contract based on your specific requirements and if you can afford extra dollars, you actually get perfect "sleep-at-night" coverage! Unlike group coverage, provisions are negotiated by policy holder and depending on financial ability policy can be designed as comprehensive as possible. In addition to customized health care, next most important advantage is flexibility to choose your own doctor or specialist and hospital of your choice. Private health insurance is a surging business in United States because of freedom that policy holders have in choosing what they want and how they want to be insured. You can secure yourself against any financial devastation for any and every imaginable health condition.
| | OSTEOPOROSIS Written by Anonymous
Osteoporosis is disease of brittle bones. As we age, bone mass loses density. Menopause can accelerate this process due to loss in oestrogen levels. Oestrogen plays two important roles in bone metabolism: it facilitates absorption of calcium from blood into bone and inhibits loss of calcium from bone. Lack of oestrogen will slow down calcium absorption into bone and, instead, speed up calcium loss. It is estimated that average woman loses up to 10 per cent of her bone mass in first five years of menopause. Research suggests that about half of all women over age of 60 will have at least one fracture due to osteoporosis. Dubbed "silent disease", osteoporosis reveals no physical symptoms. That is because bone loss causes neither visible signs nor pain. Osteoporosis can go undetected for years, until weakened bones cause painful fractures in back or hips. But does that mean every postmenopausal woman should sit back and wait for osteoporosis to set in? Of course not. Though they can't stop oestrogen from decreasing, they can prevent osteoporosis by following these simple regimes:
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