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The US Health Insurance Market
by Jenna Milson
http://www.flinthealthinsurance.com
A lot of people would rather not think about illness - it
is natural. But in the United States in the twenty first
century you really do need to think about what might happen
if you or a member of your family happens to fall ill. If
you do not have adequate insurance cover, or if you have no
cover at all, you could be in deep trouble.
To get a handle on the problem we can look at the general
idea of health insurance. For a start there are other ways
to fund health. Take the Germans or the French - their
system is known as insurance but it is not the same as
ours. Your average German pays money into the scheme, but
the resulting coverage applies to all his fellow nationals.
The United Kingdom taxes according to income, but offers
health treatment equally to all the Queen's subjects. This
is not the model in the United States of America. Anyone
with very limited cash coming in, and anyone past
retirement age who doesn't have a better plan, is eligible
for the healthcare basics. Those outside these categories
are asked to insure themselves - the better your policy,
the more you pay for it and the more services you are
entitled to receive.
US health insurance is not so different from auto or
home insurance policies. The policy providers are
businesses that need to turn a profit. For this reason
people with a current medical condition may have problems
getting an insurance company to offer them cover against
the condition worsening. Though it might sound callous, an
insurance company has to consider a person with heart
problems a poor risk just like they would if you were a
driver with a string of accidents looking to get a powerful
car insured. This is the key incentive for getting your
HMO or insurance policy on a firm footing when you are in
good health. A further incentive is that HMOs often have a
period at the beginning of your membership when your cover
is limited - it is best that this passes when you are
healthy.
Of course healthcare is not exactly like auto insurance:
if someone is such a bad driver they cannot get insured
they will have to stop driving... a genuine difficulty, but
not the end of the world. On the other hand if someone is
denied medical treatment it can mean the end for them. But
the richest country on the planet can hardly stand by and
watch someone die of a preventable illness. This is why
there is Medicare and Medicaid as a safety-net. Besides
this, most States have legislated that certain things must
be in all healthcare insurance programs, even at the most
basic level of coverage. An example of this is the
mammogram for early detection of breast cancer - most
schemes must include this service. So look at what is
offered in your state.
Most working people are covered by their work scheme, but
this may not move with you when you move jobs, or if you
lose your job. This is why it is a good idea to know
exactly what is and is not included in your scheme, and
work out a back up plan. There isn't much more important
than the health of you and your family.
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