Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Looking for Health Insurance in New Jersey?

Hi Going to the doctors for a simple check up costs a lot of money and I have to take blood tests too and that right there costs 500 bucks and I'm paying cash out of my pocket.. I'm looking for health insurance in my state and actually for my parents too but I can't seem to find an affordable plan. Can anyone help me out this? I think we're going to go broke pretty soon because sometimes it's really urgent and the doctors don't even give you discounts.
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Health insurance for young adults (I used 20 years old for an example) in NJ are available for approximately $200 per month person. Some companies that offer it at approximately this price are Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey, Oxford Health Plans, and AmeriHealth New Jersey.
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i am unable to pay my health insurance deductible but am paying insurance premium,will i loose my insurance ?

i had car accident and broke my wrist.i dont have any job for last 15 months .i am making my health insurance premium payments only.i am unable to pay my deductible .will my insurance keep me covered every year?
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you only have to pay your deductible if you are going to the doctor's office... a deductible is basically a dollar amount that your health insurance sets that you have to pay out of your pocket first before they will start paying part of your medical bills.. as long as you pay your premium you should be fine...
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how easy is it to get health insurance in california if you are unemployed or self-employed?

I think in nj and ny it is guaranteed through places like ehealthinsurance but what about ca? Can they turn you down for pre-existing conditions? Where can I find out more?
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If you are self-employed no problem, but if you are unemployed most companies will not accept you. It has nothing to do with being able to afford the premium; it is because most umemployed people are looking for a job and many jobs have health benefits. Yes, you can be turned down depending upon the severity and type of pre-existing condition. You can also be turned down if your height and weight are outside the guidelines or if you have the "wrong" occupation. Your best bet is to visit a local independent agent that works with all the major companies. The agent can find the best plan for your situation and budget and can explain the plans. There is no extra charge using an agent and you'll have a local person to call if you have questions or problems in the future.
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Did the octuplet mom have actual health insurance or medicaid?

if it was medicaid, why would the IVF doctor implant embryos in a woman who had no coverage for the birthing costs?? I really hope that the practice is held responsible for something. what do you guys think?
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I agree about the Kaiser insurance. Howver I'm sure that IVF and the resulting multiple pregnancy is not a covered benefit, hence Medicaid getting involved.
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Please tell me how being forced to buy health insurance is the same as being forced to buy car insurance?

Does anyone with any reasoning ability really think they are the same logically? Please explain in detail how they are the same not by just saying "its the same".
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I am not saying I agree with it but the rationale would be that each person would have insurance to take care of the unseen and unpredictable, having an accident and getting sick are both things you don't count on and if we ALL have insurance then we won't be asking our neighbors who planned better to pay for our misfortunes.
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Who are the players on the topic of People with mental illness without health insurance coverage?

I was just wondering because people with mental illness often do not get covered.
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The preeminent authority on the subject would probably be the National institute of Mental Health (NIMH).
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Which company provides health insurance for government employees?Can that company deny them care at will?

Do they have benefit caps? Considering that we all pay for their coverage if government employees faced the same problems with insurance the rest of us do would those problems have been corrected before they even existed?
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Good question and the system doesn't work like people believe it does (especially when Hillary talks about the "same care Congress has" in her plan). There are choices. Here's the link for 2008 so you can see for yourself: http://www.opm.gov/insure/health/ There is no one company that ensures them. Employees are given a "menu" that applies to their paygrade, location, etc. and they offer from HMOs to FFS (Fee For Service--the traditional plan that most people still think of with insurance). I suspect they have caps, but there is no way I'm going to read through every possible plan to find out--plus insurers are notorious for making it hard to find that info--until it's too late. They do have companies with LOW satisfaction scores. For grins, I selected 4 plans for MY zip code and found that some had just over 50% and less than 60% overall plan satisfaction. Such a deal, eh? Looks like a ballpark guess is that the government picks up about 70% of the cost of the plan and the employee about 30%. As with everyone else's plan when they do talk about out-of-pocket max's they always say things like co-pays and some things do NOT count toward the out-of-pocket AND after you hit your max, you still pay the co-pays. I think what we have to remember is that HIGH PROFILE folks in government will get anything they want--even if it's not technically covered I'm sure they can get taken care of. For your poor DMV clerk or something, he's probably as bad off as the cashier at the grocery store. THE FOLLOWING IS FROM 2002 SO IT IS OLD, BUT INTERESTING: "www.tscl.org Ask the Advisor: Congressional Health Care Benefits, the Rolls Royce of Health Plans? Why not scrap Medicare in favor of something better? I refer to the cost-effective health plan enjoyed by all of Congress. I understand it includes prescription drugs. I've asked my Congressman, Joe Hoeffel (D-PA) to spell out what's in his health plan, what he pays and how it is funded. He has ignored my requests. I've heard it referred to as the Rolls Royce health care plan. This seems like a good idea for everybody instead of trying to fix the damn-near broke Medicare.-T.M, Plymouth Meeting, PA From the editor: Members of Congress enjoy excellent health benefits under the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program (FEHBP). For 2002, Representative Hoeffel could choose from 11 different health care plans under FEHBP. All plans offer prescription drug benefits. The government (meaning taxpayers like you and me) pays 72% of the average premium but not more than 75%. Your Congressman saw the remaining 25% deducted from his $12,500 monthly paycheck (also paid for by you and me). This is similar to the amount the government pays under Medicare. Under Medicare, the government pays 75% of the Part B premium and the other 25% monthly premium is deducted from your Social Security check (which is much, much less than $12,500 per month). Among the 11 health plans, the federal employee share of monthly premiums ranges from a low of $55.58 per month to a high of $354.08 per month. These premiums compare with Medicare Part A hospital insurance and Medicare Part B doctors' and outpatient services. But, they also include prescription drug coverage. Medicare Part B premiums in 2002 are $54 per month. Most Medicare beneficiaries pay nothing for Medicare Part A, but most supplement Medicare, and pay additional premiums for Medigap policies. The Medicare deductibles in 2002 are $812 for Part A and $100 for Part B. FEHBP deductibles range from nothing for hospital stays to $500. Doctor and outpatient services deductibles range from none to $500. Prescription drug deductibles range from none to $600. The plan with the lowest combination of deductibles is $250; the plan with the highest is $1,150. There is no Medicare Part A hospital co-insurance for the first 60 days. After that Medicare beneficiaries pay $203 per day for the 61st to 90th day in each period and $406 a day for the 91st to 150th day. Hospital inpatient co-insurance in FEHBP ranges from nothing to 35%. Medicare Part B coinsurance is generally about 20%. Under FEHBP the coinsurance ranges from 10% to as much as 35%. FEHBP drug insurance co-insurance varies depending upon whether the prescription is generic, brand name or a non-formulary drug. Copayments start as low as $5 but co-insurance can be as high as 50% depending on the plan and the type of drug. In 2000, the National Bipartisan Commission on the Future of Medicare ended with no agreement on a proposal to reform Medicare along lines similar to the FEHBP plans. The so-called "premium support" model would essentially privatize Medicare leaving the government in the role of negotiating contracts with participating health plans as they do for the FEHBP plans. Senator John Breaux (D-LA) introduced legislation in 2001 to reform Medicare along these lines but it remains in committee. Even under such a system, the biggest problem for Medicare remains the financing. FEHBP plans aren't necessarily that much more cost-efficient. FEHBP costs are rising by double-digit rates as well. Premiums rose in 2001 by an average of 13.3%. The Blue Cross standard option, popular with many retirees, rose by 20% for individual coverage. This increase was on top of a 2000 average increase of 10.5% and an increase of 21.2% in Blue Cross standard option. No matter which system, with increasing numbers of persons becoming eligible and health care costs continuing to climb, Medicare remains as you say, "damn-near broke." To read more about the FEHBP, you can download a free copy of the 2002 Federal Employees Health Benefits guides for working employees as well as retirees online at www.opm.gov/insure/health/index.htm. If you do not have internet access, ask your library for help. March 2002" http://www.tscl.org/NewContent/101421.as…
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Should smokers, heavy drinkers and overweight people be required to pay more for health insurance?

It seems unfair to me that everybody pays the same price. The healthy subsidize the slobs who require more long term care because of their habits and addictions.
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Every single person on this earth does something that is not healthy/good for them. Whether it is eating junk food, drinking alcohol or soda, smoking marijuana or cigarettes, NOT exercising or over exercising, not wearing their seat belt, etc. etc. etc.
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If I have bcbs of FL health insurance will I be able to have a gastric bypass or a lapband?

I know that bcbls of Florida does not cover the gastric bypass surgery anymore, but is it still possible to make an appeal of anykind to have it done anyway. Please help.
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You can do an appeal. See if your doctor would write a letter of medical necessity for it. It would help your case. Most Health insurance companies will not cover that type of surgery,although some might if you can supply some kind of proof of the medical necessity
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I am a RN and I am interested in selling long-term care health insurance. What is an average salary?

I am an excellent communicator, and I love working with people. I think i could do a good job in this area because i have always worked in the geriatric field + 15 years.
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$25-30k per year with a reputable company. Why would you want to change careers anyway?
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Why should patients be treated without health insurance?

I am doing some research for this question for my Bioethics class. As a future physician, I strongly support this statement and need some more feedback universally.
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Because not everyone can afford to have health insurance. Medicaid on applies to the very poor... not to the people that are barley getting by. Patients without insurance are people too, and have family and friends that love them very much. Not to long ago, I was without insurance. I was a 19 year old college student, my mom got laid off. I lost my insurance and I was too old to get Medicaid. I went 4 years without insurance. I was working on my under graduate degree, and then went for my Masters. I was working a job that did not offer health insurance (I was working 40+ hours a week), but needed to stay there since they work around my schedule. I went to health clinics when I was sick and saved up enough money to pay for my gyno visits as well as my dental visit (which I found a health clinic that was reasonable in price and took people with no insurance). I finally got a new job, but they did not offer health insurance right away. I was there for over a year before I got health insurance. It is hard finding a job that offers health insurance. Especially when you are young. There are so many jobs that do not offer it to their employees for one reason or another. Health insurance on your own is so expensive that it is sometimes better to take a chance and go to the doctor and pay out of pocket when needed. I wish United States will follow the lead of Canada and Europe and offer Health insurance to all the citizens.
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Does anyone know who offers catastrophic health insurance plans in New Jersey?

Looking for some family member that live out there, and having a very difficult time finding a company that offers it. If you know, please let me know!
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health-quotes.talk4fun.net - here is my health insurance plan. As I remember they can provide such a service.
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Why should any American be forced to utilize a health insurance access system for health care that is dependen?

on spiteful and/or hateful political opponents who claim to know what is best for other people?
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They shouldn't.
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How can i control my depression without health insurance?

I have no way to get the medical help i once had. It wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't for the fact that i can be ok one min and completely overwhelmed with depression the next. IDK what to do. Is there some kind of herbal remedy for this? Is it possible to deal with it with phys activity??
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It's amazing how much your health can improve with exercise, yoga, eating a diet free of white flour sugar and processed foods. This would certainly be a great place to start. There are natural remedies that can help.
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can someone tell me what the definition of renewing a short-term health insurance policy is really referring..

to because I thought it was simply the option and process of reapplying for a new short term policy at the expiration of the previous policy??? Because, for my short-term health insurance I can reapply as many times as I want but I'm sure the preexisting clause still applies if I get ill with the first policy as it is considered an altogether new policy...so basically I cant "work" the system by applying for coverage early and being approved early, as the preexisting condition still applies. Illnesses that roll over to the new policy will not be covered as they are preexisting? Of course, I guess I could get a short term policy outside of the company im with now that overlaps although Insurance companies don't want to insure people who already have insurance?
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You are using short term insurance in the wrong way. It is not really meant to be renewed but rather as a bridge between more permanent employer-sponsored plans. If you need to do this however, you may be better off signing up for a new policy with a new insurer that takes effect the day after the old one expires. That way you solve this problem.
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What do you think is more important for a middle-aged man: having health insurance or life insurance?

If you can only have one or the other?
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health insurance... if you have to pick get health insurance that is alot more important then life insurance... especially if your middle aged unless you have a death wish then life insurance but i suggest health insurance... it is very important to have that i cannot stress how important it is to have health insurance trust me i have life insurance but no health insurance and im screwed on hospital bills that even if i do die my family is still left with these huge bills that life insurance wont cover and it ruined my credit but there are reasonable health insurance plans and life insurance plans to where you could probably get both you just have to shop around....
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How much dose private health insurance cost in United States,?

I understand different companies have different policies and prices I am just wondering the average. I hear alot of stories about people who cant afford it there, where i live i think it costs me around 1000 euro a year for the ordinary private insurance,
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Try this site affordinsurance.notlong.com Here you can compare quotes from different companies
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Is it lawful for Obama to tax health insurance benefits unless employees are union?

Seem to me that Obama is paying back the Unions for GM
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Unions' Health Benefits May Avoid Tax Under Obama Proposal http://bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601070&sid=aDvu77pZr7k4 There's a reason the Obama health care plan is being rushed through Congress this summer -- because the American people would likely never support it if given time to absorb and understand such fine print," as the unions being exempt from any tax increase on any health care benefits provided by their boss. "If the union carve-out isn't sufficient to excite public anger, wait till you hear about the version of the Obama plan prepared by Senator Edward Kennedy, which would specifically exempt Members of Congress from many of its provisions. As the US Office of Personnel Management notes, Members of Congress 'enjoy the widest selection of health plans in the country.' According to page 114 of the Kennedy bill, a similar array of choices would not be available to other Americans in the future. Instead, they would be shunted into health insurance plans under the straightjacket of whatever the government decides is a 'basic' plan." Union workers would be exempt from the Democrat health care tax. So guess what that says to people? Hey, buddy, if you join our union, your health care won't be taxed like everybody else's. "Critics of the Baucus proposal to exempt unions from a health care benefits tax said the exclusion could be used to lure into unions employees who are anxious to avoid the benefits tax." Yes, exactly right. So you continue to throw a bone to the unions of the workers' paradise. Obama is right out of Das Kapital? Obama looks at profit as just surplus revenue that he can grab. The private sector is just an endless pile of money. He can go get it, use it for whatever he wants. I have also said that if you want to understand Obama's economic policy, understand just one thing, and that is he considers his mission to be to return the nation's wealth to its, quote, unquote, rightful owners. Now, if you're familiar with Marx and Das Kapital, the rightful owners of the nation's wealth are the poor and workers, the middle class who are exploited and used and taken advantage of and on whose backs other people get rich. Profit is considered evil. Profit is considered something that's unequal. It's unfair to have a profit and to make one. Look where Unions got G.M. Labor unions are disastrous for American car companies. Labor unions, along with the government regulations, will destroy this country's free capitalism, or what is left of free capitalism. When you restrict what a company can do, and couple that with labor unions demanding outrageous amounts of money for little to no work, you get a bankrupt business. When you bite the hand that feeds you enough, you stop getting fed!
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What is the difference between the different health insurance plans, such as Indemnity, PPO, Personal Comp?

I'm trying to figure out the best plan for my 14 year old and there are so many to choose from that it's becoming overwhelming. What are major differences between Indemnity, PPO, Personal Comp and HMO. Also, there are HSA accounts, but it looks like you have to be 18 to take advantage of this??
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Your questions are good, and more than one quick post can answer. The link below will help, but in a nutshell, what you typically are going to find with the plans you mention is that the lower the monthly premium, the less choice you have and who you see and what services you have done. Not a bad thing necessarily, but just now that. Doesn't your 14-year-old qualify for a parent's health plan, or (if incomes are low) for Medicaid or SCHIP?
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How do you pass the life and health insurance exam in MO?

I only got 2 weeks to study for both. I take it in a couple of days.
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Try to find out if you can take any crash courses here in California there's this place call mikeruss financial i took this class twice and I pass my life and property casualty state exam. Good Luck on your new career. Go to mikeruss.org
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Do you believe people should be denied health insurance because of a pre-exisiting condition?

And do you believe co-pays and deductibles are too high? Why the cost of every medical procedure and every simple medical test is so high?
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Private insurance companies should get to decide who the want to do business with. Last time I checked, this was still America, land of the free. Co-payments and deductibles are on a sliding scale if you are buying your insurance in the free market. If you accept a $10,000 deductible your premiums every month will be cheaper than if you chose a $500 deductible. Your third question is your best. There are many reasons tests are expensive. We have become a highly litigious nation making insurance for those who care for us extremely expensive. It's not just medical malpractice for the doctors and the hospitals but also the liability policies for manufacturers of test equipment from the most elaborate MRI machine down to the simple thermometer. Medical malpractice insurance costs and the fear of litigation causes doctors and hospitals to order tests that are often redundant, simply to cover their butts in case of civil action against them. Most of the inefficiencies in administration are due to the fear of law suits also. Anyone that's been in for a simple outpatient proceedure in recent years has to be negatively impressed with the plethora of paperwork. When the doctor's administrators are done with it, the hospital works with it and adds some of their own then the insurance company has to work with it and also add some of their own. The medical industry can keep several lumber mills running 'round the clock, all just because they need to cover their butts. Don't forget, the paper generators and paper pushers all get paid a salary, medical benefits, retirement, etc. at the doctor's office, the hospital or clinic and the insurance companies. Everyone makes a profit from the companies that make the needles for a blood test to the hospital or clinic to the doctors. There are other less seen profit centers though. It is not uncommon for a group of doctor friends to get together and buy an MRI machine and offer MRI services to hospitals and clinics that can't afford one. That adds an extra layer of profits that the patient or their insurance company must support because the hospital still adds their profit to the test. There are many additional reasons tests are expensive, including illegals taxing the system, but the ones that seem to be easiest to get under control are those arising from a fear of litigation and its costs. While the Democrats accuse the Republicans of never coming up with a plan and only complaining about their plan, nothing could be further from the truth. The Republicans believe that no workable, meaningful reform is possible without addressing run-away law suits. It's as if the Democrats are in bed with the legal profession because the issue is completely ignored in the current bill circulating around the House.
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Wisdom teeth removal, dental or health insurance?

I have Blue Cross Blue Shield for health insurance and Metlife for dental. I have one wisdom tooth thats grown in and three that haven't. I'm not sure if i have the three surgically remove, if that would be covered under my dental or health insurance. Does anyone know?
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The claim for the extractions will be sent to Met Life first.. if the wisdom teeth are what's called 'boney impactions', then the claim can be sent to BC/BS for coordination of benefits... the 'boney impactions' are covered under your medical insurance.... Best of luck~
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What will happen if my wife gets pregnant and doesn't have health insurance?

We both have "outrageous" premiums through our work and would not be able to survive paying them so we have cancelled them. What would happen with no insurance? Would I have to give birth to my own son? The hospital can't refuse treatment can they?
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You can easily check your minimal health care rates in internet, for example here - health-quotes.talk4fun.net
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Why can't small businesses in each state group together to get better and more affordable health insurance?

Who regulates this? The insurance companies? The large companies? It doesn't make sense that this cannot be done.
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cause there are laws that govern that sort of thing...and trust me they are set up to protect insurance companies and enhance profits. Also...even larger plans these days are nothing to brag about.....its easy to find a family coverage out there that is very crappy and where the employer and employee are paying over $18,000 a year to cover just 3 family members.
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