Health insurance from your employer's point of view

There has been a sad trend since the turn of this century. Health insurance costs have been rising so fast that even large sections of the middle class now find it a struggle, if not impossible, to pay the premiums demanded by the insurers for private plans. The fact is that, although in the last one or two years, there have been some increases in average take-home pay, these increases have not kept pace with inflation.

People today are more poor than they were ten years ago. For a time, people compensated by using their credit cards and borrowing against the positive housing equity on their homes. With the bursting of the housing bubble and the credit crunch, people must now confront the size of the debt they carry. Articles like this are not supposed to feel sorry for employers. They are the ones who take our work, pay us as little possible and buy big houses to live in. Sometimes, we only put up with this exploitation because of the health plans some offer as part of the compensation package. But they have also been feeling the strain.

Statistics show that, in the period 2000-2007, there was an average 80% increase in the premiums payable by employers for the health plan offered to their employees. As a cost, this has increased five times faster than the cost of wages and salaries. Because consumers have come to expect that prices will not rise, it has not been possible to pass these increased costs on in the wholesale and retail prices. The result has been a reduction in the profits earned by the employers. Hence, wages have not risen fast enough to keep pace with inflation.

This has real significance for the future health of the nation. Slightly more than 30% of the workforce is less than 30 years old and the majority of them are not insured. This because more employers have given up the unequal struggle to keep up a health plan for new employees, and more younger people who still have their health do not see it as a priority to use more and more of their take-home pay to fund private health insurance.

They feel they are paying against the risk of sickness that might never come. This has an unfortunate knock-on effect. Health insurance distributes the risk so that the fit and health subsidize those who fall sick. If too many of the healthy refuse cover, the cost must be born by the older population more likely to make claims. This forces the premiums to rise. It would be better if everyone had a policy because this spreads the costs and keeps everyone's payments low. You can make a start by using sites like this to find the cheapest possible policy, but nothing will change unless government policy changes.

Cheap Health Insurance - Reality or Not ?

If you need a cheap health insurance, then you better start looking online. While others call nonstop and try to get the best possible deal, you could just send an email and fill the profile form. The rest will come your way.

Health Insurance is confusing for most people. The best way to make sure you have what you think you have is to talk to an agent who understands the policy. It is important to ask all the questions you have before you sign in for the deal. Here is a list of questions you might want to know the answers for:

1. How do you get permission to go to the hospital?


2. Does the policy pay for maternity?


3. What is the lifetime maximum benefit?


4. Are prescription drugs included?

Is there a separate deductible? Is co-payment a part of the deal? Personal cheap health insurancemay be more expensive than the group insurance people usually have. It happens to be so because of the fact that you company is paying for you as long as you are a member of the team. So even if it was vice versa it would not make any difference to you as you would not be paying the bill.

Here are most of the popular health insurance plan people meet:

• Traditional Health Care Coverage is the individual health insurance many people prefer because it gives them the chance to see any doctor and go to any hospital without having to use a primary care doctor first. That is always an advantage when it comes to spending money.


• HMO Insurance plan is much lower in cost than the group insurance plan. This coverage happens to be cheaper than the Traditional health care plans so people start using those more and more. The primary care doctor is responsible for referrals to any specialist, including a doctor for double-check.


• Indemnity plans are plans that pay you directly. Today indemnity plans are available that pay either you or the hospital for both illness and accident.


• Catastrophic Care, Cancer and other focused plans: catastrophic plans are plans that pay only for a major illness. The most common catastrophic plans are for cancer, intensive care, heart failure and kidney disease.