The newer version (CHIP) of the older State’s Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) Bill, first introduced in 1997, is something that has many people quite excited, as it addresses the future of health insurance for children in Florida. The Bill’s re-introduction has brought with it some interesting new changes. CHIP is a matched funding effort with two sources for the money – the state of Florida and the Federal government.

Highlights of the reauthorization include the fact that CHIP will now be extended to September 30th, 2013. Another groundbreaking provision relates to the declaration of assets, and allows a child’s parents to simply sign a document to state their assets. Along with this less restrictive provision, is the requirement that the states must utilize at least 5 of a total of 8 enrollment and retention provisions outlined in the CHIP Reauthorization Act. One of those is getting rid of an asset or resource test. These latest innovations went into effect on April 1st, 2009.
CHIP may also now cover pregnancy related aid to pregnant lower income women, provided they meet certain conditions. There will also be Medicaid and CHIP coverage for legal aliens who have been in the country less than five years. In the near future, specifically October 1st, 2009, dental care will be rolled into CHIP coverage.

There are other interesting provisions, but for the best outline of what will change and the potential benefits that may assist a family, it is smart to contact a local health insurance agent to get a complete outline of the CHIP Reauthorization Act. Suffice it to say, that this particular piece of legislation is being touted as an Act that will assist in providing health insurance security for millions of kids in working families.
The most innovative thing about the CHIP Reauthorization Act is that with its passage, the face of health care reform for children in the U.S. has begun to change. Providing kids with health coverage is an enormous precedent that will ultimately mean that every American has access to affordable and flexible health care, a step forward indeed; that will mean everyone who needs medical care should be able to get it.

To learn more about Florida group health insurance, Tampa group health insurance, Sarasota group health insurance, Miami group health insurance, or Orlando group health insurance, visit Grouphealthflorida.com or call 1-800-873-5713.

It’s an enormous pressure facing the uncertainty of what will happen next with your job and any hints to assist you with the unhealthy stress are welcome. One of the things you need to keep in mind is that although the temptation to borrow from your 401K plan might seem attractive, don’t do it.

Since the recession started getting deadly serious, there has been a dramatic increase in people taking money out of their plans. Statistics indicate virtually 20% of companies have seen their workers access their plans for loans. This makes sense because people are desperate for cash on hand, and other alternatives, such as home equity lines of credit, are more difficult to obtain.

Why is accessing your 401K plan not such a good idea? Well, if you leave that company — and that seems to be happening frequently these days — you will need to repay the balance within 60 to 90 days. If you don’t, the money you owe is classified as a distribution and you will be required to pay income taxes on the balance. That’s not all. You will also be tagged with paying a 10% early-withdrawal penalty if you are younger than 55 years old.

Worried about health insurance as well? Many people are and there is something you may do to be proactive. This works if your company is offering open enrollment. Sign up for the lowest priced health insurance plan they have. If you do get laid off, your cost of continuing some kind of health coverage is significantly reduced. Keep this in mind in case you are employed at a company with more than 20 workers.

In larger workplaces, COBRA must remain in place for up to 18 months for those who are laid off. This would give you time to consider and investigate other options, and perhaps even find a job. Just remember, in this case you would be responsible for paying the total premium and all the administrative fees associated with it. You are also required to remain with the plan you signed up for while working.

Some companies have been known to let their employees have a plan with a lower premium, but with a higher deductible. This might not really suit your circumstances, but if your job happens to be in jeopardy, one of the alternative plans might look much better than COBRA. Take the time to examine all the available options and find the one that works to reduce your health insurance expenses, but still provides you with some coverage.

To learn more about Florida group health insurance, Tampa group health insurance, Sarasota group health insurance, Miami group health insurance, or Orlando group health insurance, visit Grouphealthflorida.com or call 1-800-873-5713.

There aren’t too many workers who passed on taking a closer look at their medical options this year during the annual “open enrollment” period at their companies. Most are now forking over more cash to cover a larger premium, paying higher out-of-pocket expenses and doing more self-care. There are a great number of these employees who have also gone to less expensive “catastrophic” coverage.

The state of the economy has become so desperate that those who still have work are readily accepting fewer benefits and paying lower contributions. This is a radical change in the system because it means employees are giving up HMOs or PPOs that used to provide them nearly unlimited access to physicians, with small co-pays for visits and prescriptions.

In many instances the subtle switch is now to high-deductible health plans with a health savings account or health reimbursement account, otherwise known as HSA

and HRA respectively. In part, this shift of choices on the part of workers is due to what they are being offered by their employers. This year virtually 46 percent made it a point to offer their employees some type of account-based health plan. It’s evident the trend will continue until the situation with the economy is sorted out.

Smart employers are combining things such as an HSA with a high-deductible health policy, in the bid to cut-back on the cost of insurance premiums. By implementing this type of coverage in the workplace, the employer and employees become partners in trying to reduce the costs of medical expenses. It will be interesting to see the long-term results of this new approach to cost effectiveness in managing health expenses.

To learn more about Florida group health insurance, Tampa group health insurance, Sarasota group health insurance, Miami group health insurance, or Orlando group health insurance, visit Grouphealthflorida.com or call 1-800-873-5713.

The people who participated in the web survey that offered up these latest figures were in the 21 to 64 year old bracket and privately insured. It appears, on first glance, that the numbers from 2007 indicate 2% enrolled in health account plans, a one percent jump from 2005. However the numbers do seem to be climbing steadily, which is a good sign.

Most conventional plans have an average satisfaction rating of about 64% compared to the health account numbers of roughly 47% expressing satisfaction. The 47% is up from 37% and again, the numbers do appear to be on the increase, albeit slowly. That is not unusual when it comes to something new. People always take time to get used to adjustments in their insurance plans, especially when it is something newer or more innovative.

There is reason to be upbeat about the slowly increasing numbers for another reason, and the reason is that health account plans are being viewed as a vehicle which will assist in keeping down the costs and broadening access to insurance coverage. In this day and age when more Americans need access to the health care system, greater access can only be a good thing.

While it may also be said that these plans are not yet solving the problems they were set up to tackle, the survey results do show (and encouragingly so) that the efforts of high-deductible health account plans, which are offering wellness benefits for a low or no deductible basis, are paying off.

Encouragingly, health account plan participants now seem to be opting for as much preventive care as those in a conventional health plan. In addition, they also seem to be using about the same amount of prescription drugs as those in conventional plans.

Any time that the figures for those seeking preventive health care start to climb, you know there is a major shift of attitude toward wellness going on. The survey figures are beginning to show increases in women going in more frequently for Pap smears, and men and women going for cholesterol testing. Evidently more people are also making regular wellness visits to their doctor’s offices, which can only be viewed as a good thing. Perhaps it’s time to consider a switch to a health account plan. Speak to your local health insurance broker.

To learn more about Florida group health insurance, Tampa group health insurance, Sarasota group health insurance, Miami group health insurance, or Orlando group health insurance, visit Grouphealthflorida.com or call 1-800-873-5713.

The Cover Florida plan was designed to assist over 3.8 million people in the state that had no health insurance. The general idea was that six larger health insurance companies would offer 25 different plans and the cost of those plans would vary by county and whether a person chose a catastrophic or preventative plan.

The prices under this program could range from a low of $51 monthly to roughly $290 on a monthly basis, which is pretty good bucks all things considered in this particular economy. However even the lower end price of $51 may be impossible for the jobless and homeless – another frightening reality in the 21st century. It isn’t clear how this program would mesh, if at all, with the latest health insurance plans announced by the White House.

While the Cover Florida program is ideally about freedom and choices, the recent White House plan doesn’t seem to cater to the freedom or choices aspect of the Florida program. The two programs just might not fly together, as the national one may overtake and change the parameters of the Florida package.

As with every new or seemingly new plan there are things lurking in the wings, just under the fringe of the carpet. For instance, one major company’s deductible structure shows that a family who chooses a catastrophic plan would be paying a $3,000 deductible. This is hardly a plan that either the homeless or jobless will be able to consider.

The changes the new White House announcements will make to this plan are questionable at best, and unknown to say the least. While they may make the pricing structures more accessible due to the competition factor, there may still be a gap that low income and no income people are unable to cross.

The clock is ticking and the nation is watching where the latest developments in health care innovations will take Americans. The hope is that it will be to a place where everyone has reasonable health insurance coverage, and privacy and choices that suit their circumstances.

To learn more about Florida group health insurance, Tampa group health insurance, Sarasota group health insurance, Miami group health insurance, or Orlando group health insurance, visit Grouphealthflorida.com or call 1-800-873-5713.

Group health insurance is a fairly common term and most people understand what it represents. They may have even had it at one time, or currently are enjoying the benefits of Florida group health insurance through their employer. While some Americans are fairly health insurance savvy, others don’t really know what health insurance means.

Simply put, health insurance is a form of group insurance. What happens here is that people pay premiums or taxes to cover themselves or their families for health care expenses. The way that premiums are figured out is by estimating the “risk” for health-related expenses for a year and then projecting a payment structure for premiums based on the assessed risk.

The fact that a person is paying for health insurance coverage over a period of the year means they have the coverage at their fingertips when it’s needed. In general there is a health insurance company that regulates the benefits and administers the health insurance policies. The policy is a contract between the insurance company and an individual.

When people are paying their health insurance premiums on a monthly or yearly basis, it means their contract with the health insurance company is renewed every time they make a payment. Payment may come in the form of co-insurance, a co-payment, a deductible or as a premium. Paying on the health insurance contract guarantees the insured health care coverage; a guarantee that is outlined in the contract along with what benefits the insured receives from that particular health insurance agreement. Some policies will also cover the cost of prescription drugs.

People with health insurance don’t always see bills when they go to a medical professionals office, as the doctors, etc. tend to bill the insurance company if the person signs an agreement that says they will pay any difference the health insurance company does not pick up.

To uncomplicate things, health insurance providers have set up networks of physicians they work with regularly. When insured individuals go to an “in network” doctor, that doctor takes the insurance payment for services rendered from the insurance company and waives anything above that billed out amount.

To learn more about Florida group health insurance, Tampa group health insurance, Sarasota group health insurance, Miami group health insurance, or Orlando group health insurance, visit Grouphealthflorida.com or call 1-800-873-5713.

As one may expect, the term “group health insurance” implies that all workers at a certain company must ‘opt in’ for the coverage provided. In most instances as well, the employee is expected to pay the first of their premiums within a 30-day time frame or they will not have automatic coverage.

The other thing an employer would need to know about buying a group health care plan is that there are a couple of choices when it comes to the sponsored Employee Retirement Income Security (ERISA) plans. Those choices are insured and self-insured. There are also non-ERISA plans, but these are more applicable to groups such as church organizations.

Employees will usually find that group insurance is normally the least expensive kind, although many companies do offer a variety of other plans that range from a Preferred Provider Organization (PPO) to a Health Maintenance Organization (HMO). Other companies prefer to just stick with the tried and true group health plan coverage and that is it.

In the case where the employer offers PPO, the worker is expected to pay a monthly premium. However, this type of plan does not allow the choice of a physician for the major reason that they use massive doctor networks that provide medical care. The options here allow choices (from the network) of a primary care doctor. The choice of hospitals is also limited in a PPO to those in the network only. It is highly likely a co-payment will be demanded when services have been rendered.

Basically a PPO is a group of doctors, hospitals and/or other health care service providers that offer services at a lower price. This isn’t to say there is no choice to go to a doctor outside the network. However, the cost to you personally would be much higher than using a PPO network doctor.

While the various choices of which group health care plan to choose may be confusing, talking to a local health care insurance agent will sort that out quickly and efficiently. The advice is free and their information is tailored to meet the needs of the organization seeking group health care benefits.

To learn more about Florida group health insurance, Tampa group health insurance, Sarasota group health insurance, Miami group health insurance, or Orlando group health insurance, visit Grouphealthflorida.com or call 1-800-873-5713.

This recession has hit people’s health care in ways no one really thought about. People are getting laid off and with their lay off they lose the health care they once had. Not only is this a significant shock to the system, it may mean the person or family is no longer able to afford health care. Expect the numbers of uninsured Americans to rise while until the recession stabilizes and people are able to go back to work.

This extra burden of more uninsured people really puts a strain on an already overused and abused health care system. What will start to happen, and in fact is already happening, is hospitals becoming the ones who have to absorb unpaid medical bills. These losses will merely translate into higher cost of care for others later, and the cycle will begin again.

Not only will the costs of providing care rise significantly, but also waiting times at urgent care and emergency rooms will get even longer than they happen to be now. The system just has so many people in it that offer health cares services and once their limit has been stretched to the max, it becomes a matter of trying to play catch-up to deal with all the patients who should not be using the hospital as a doctor’s office.

Where does it end? Where did it begin? These are the kinds of questions that plague health care providers and governments as they are trying to find solutions to this nationwide dilemma. At the bottom of this turmoil in the health care system is the fact that the national economy isn’t in great shape. Without a stable economy and a lower debt burden, the health care system will continue to be in the mess it is in today.

It’s also evident that many larger employers are starting to cut back on the kinds of health care perks they offer their employees. It has become an enormous albatross of debt for them to keep up with the rising costs. There is a shift to offering plans that pass more of the costs down to the workers.

This cycle is certainly a destructive one and one that there doesn’t seem to be too much control over. The checks and balances of the economy are out of whack. A recession has to run its course before the nation sees light at the end of the tunnel, an economy starting to recover and a health care system that isn’t overloaded with people who should be doctoring with their family physicians.

To learn more about Florida group health insurance, Tampa group health insurance, Sarasota group health insurance, Miami group health insurance, or Orlando group health insurance, visit Grouphealthflorida.com or call 1-800-873-5713.