Do Not Confuse Health Insurance With Life Insurance
Health insurance is designed to protect you against the possibility of having to pay large medical bills by offering either full or partial coverage for a range of medical treatments and procedures. By contrast, life insurance is designed to pay out a lump sum in the event of your death. It is very important not to confuse the two since it is very easy to get free health and life insurance quotes online today and you certainly do not want to end up with wrong sort of plan!
Life insurance is usually purchased as either a whole life policy or a term life policy. A term life insurance policy is the simplest form of life insurance plan and is also the least expensive as it pays out only on the death of the policyholder within a specified time. Term life insurance can normally be purchased for as little as one year or for as long as 30 years. Generally, individuals take out term life insurance towards the later years of their life or when they feel that their life is at greater risk over a short period of time for some specific reason.
Whole life insurance plans combine both a term life insurance plan and an investment plan. The premiums paid into a whole life insurance policy are split between the two, with that portion of the premium which is assigned for investment being paid into an investment vehicle, such as a mutual fund or stocks and bonds, chosen by the plan holder. Most people choose a whole life insurance plan to provide both protection for their family and also as a savings vehicle, often for retirement. As these policies are usually heavily loaded with both fees and commissions however they are not always a very suitable form of investment once costs are taken into account.
Despite the fact that the price of both a life insurance plan and a health insurance plan are dependent upon the plan holder's age and state to health, with younger people paying less than older people and those in good health paying less than those in poor health, these two types of insurance are very different animals.
Despite some common misconceptions, it really is not be a case of choosing between one and the other. Both have their place and for many people it is advisable to have both. Health insurance coverage is frequently provided by an employer and many employers will also offer the option of purchasing life insurance through a company scheme. In this situation, it is often wise to take the company up on the offer of both.
If it does come down to a question of choosing between the two, then this should be a matter of looking at your personal circumstances and how much you can afford to pay. If you can only afford one then, on balance, it is often to your advantage to choose health insurance rather than life insurance because it only takes one illness or accident to leave you facing a medical bill which you simply cannot pay without insurance.
Finally, if you do find yourself facing considerable medical bills without health insurance to cover them then one thing that you may consider is purchasing a term life insurance plan with a payout that is high enough to clear the bills. This will not help to clear your medical bills in the short term, but it will spare your family the worry of inheriting a considerable debt in the event of your death.
Case management: A process of identifying plan members with special health care needs, developing a health-care strategy that meets those needs, and coordinating and monitoring the care, with the ultimate goal of achieving the optimum health care outcome in an efficient and cost-effective manner. Also known as large case management (LCM).
Formulary: A listing of drugs, classified by therapeutic category or disease class, that are considered preferred therapy for a given managed population and that are to be used by an MCO's providers in prescribing medications.
Outcomes measures: health care quality indicators that gauge the extent to which health care services succeed in improving patient health.
Risk-adjustment: The statistical adjustment of outcomes measures to account for risk factors that are independent of the quality of care provided and beyond the control of the plan or provider, such as the patient's gender and age, the seriousness of the patient's illness, and any other illnesses the patient might have. Also known as case-mix adjustment.
On the Call: WellPoint CEO Angela Braly - BusinessWeek
28 Jul 2010 at 11:25pm
On the Call: WellPoint CEO Angela Braly
BusinessWeek
By AP Health insurance is the main focus for WellPoint Inc., which runs Blue Cross Blue Shield plans in 14 states. It also provides some dental, ...
Earnings Preview: WellPointTradersHuddle.com
Well...
Death-Benefit Accounts Seem to Slight Survivors - New York Times
28 Jul 2010 at 8:02pm
CBS News
Death-Benefit Accounts Seem to Slight Survivors
New York Times
Ms. Lohman, a public health nurse, said she had always believed that her son's life insurance money was in a bank insured by the FDIC That money ? like $28 ...
Duping the Families...
Health Insurance Companies Are Withholding Life-Saving Education - Huffington...
29 Jul 2010 at 11:31am
Health Insurance Companies Are Withholding Life-Saving Education
Huffington Post (blog)
What are health insurance companies thinking when they cover the cost of life-saving health equipment and deny the cost of learning how to use it? ...
Best Relative Performace in the Life & Health Insurance Industry Detected in ...
29 Jul 2010 at 5:11am
Best Relative Performace in the Life & Health Insurance Industry Detected in ...
Comtex Smartrend
Below are the top five companies in the Life & Health Insurance industry as measured by relative performance. This analysis was compiled based ...
and m...
|
