February 2, 2006 15:05 - Welcome to Health Insurance Blog!
We're excited to provide you this Health Insurance Blog where you can find interesting health insurance news, feature articles and tips to help you find affordable health insurance and save on health care costs.Come back often and check the updates. Better yet, subscribe to the Health Insurance News RSS Feeds using the orange XML button below. Feel free to contact us if you have any questions or suggestions on how we can improve this site.
To your health!
HealthInsurance-Help.com Team
February 16, 2006 12:22 - Health Savings Account for Federal Workers Expected to Save Billions
The US Government expects significant increase in the number of federal workers enrolled in Health Savings Account should congress allow BlueCross and BlueShield, federal workers' largest health insurer, to offer a Health Savings Account Plan.The White House projects savings of billions of dollars based on this move, which is part of President Bush's proposed 2007 budget. Health Savings Account allows the consumers to take greater control of their health care decisions and therefore manage medical costs better.
Some experts say that one of Health Savings Account's biggest drawback is consumer confusion, since they believe that "people don't have enough information on cost and quality to make responsible medical decisions."
The advantages, however, are that consumers have discretion as to what services they want and how much they want to spend for them. Money stays with the workers when they move to another job or enroll in Medicare. It gives the people greater flexibility as they can withdraw money from the account to cover a far wider range of procedures than typical insurers may cover.
Source: The Baltimore Sun
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February 17, 2006 15:27 - Smokers Pay Higher Health Insurance Premiums
There's another good reason for people to stop smoking, and that's higher health insurance premiums.USA Today reports a growing number of companies who are charging tobacco users premium surcharges, ranging from $20- $50 per month, hoping this will motivate employees to stop smoking and help lower health care costs. Most of the employers taking this step are self-insured companies, including Pepsi, American Financial, General Mills, Meijer, and Gannett.
A general benefits survey conducted last year among 950 companies show that about 41% show some kind of incentives and penalties in their health care plans. About 8-10% of the businesses aim some of these penalties and incentives at smokers.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates $92 billion in lost wages annually in the United States from smokers who die prematurely. The economic costs of smoking includes $75.b billion per year in direct health care costs.
Smokers are costing companies 25% more than non-smokers. So companies are hoping the higher health insurance premiums would encourage their employees to give up smoking and make healthier lifestyle choices. n started onsite fitness programs and are paying for gym memberships.
Bottomline? If you wish to save hundreds, if not thousands of dollars on health insurance and health care costs, give up smoking now. It's good for your finances and its great for your health.
Source: USA Today
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February 24, 2006 16:20 - Free Prescription Medicines for the Uninsured
Are you uninsured? Do you need help paying for your prescription medicines. Here are some resources that help you find low cost or free prescription drugs from hundreds of major drug companies, including Pfizer, Merk, Abbot and more. Check out these resources and find out if you qualify.
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