Healthcare for Long-term Patients: Is this Insurance Right for You?

Long-term care insurance is not right for everyone. For a small percentage of the population this coverage is an affordable and worthwhile type of insurance. Determining whether or not long-term care insurance is right for you won’t be the only task at hand; looking for scams will also be a concern.

As you get older, the need for assistance in your everyday life increases. Whether it is in-home care or residing in a nursing home for a few months you will most likely need some way to pay for these types of services. In order to maintain long-term care insurance you must pay for them each and every year until death. Many policies are canceled by policyholders that are on fixed incomes and are simply unable to pay for the increasing premiums as they get older. If the only funds you are receiving were those from Social Security or SSI, then it would be wise to not purchase a policy. Also, if you find that every day purchases and paying for utilities makes you stretch your budget to the limit, you probably should stay clear of this policy. This type of policy is only right for someone who has significant assets they want to preserve for their family, remain independent, or just to spare their family the expense of a nursing home bill. Read the rest of this entry »

Health Insurance When Living Abroad

You may not know this already, but when planning on traveling abroad you cannot take your local insurance with you. You will need to purchase an international insurance plan offered by a multinational insurance company. While they may be hard to track down, it is the best way to assure that in the event of an accident or illness you will be able to acquire medical attention if needed.

Many of these plans will cover you up to six months in another country. When you speak with the insurance company, be prepared to give an extensive list of information to them. This will range from health problems you’ve had in the past ten years, your hereditary conditions to substance abuse, and almost everything else-if it has anything to do with your health be prepared to disclose the information. If you are planning on traveling with more than one family member, then be prepared to give information for each family member as well.

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Stay Legal! Avoiding Insurance Fraud

Everyone knows that the health insurance industry is continually raising monthly premiums, and many feel this is unjust to you as the consumer. However, the health insurance industry has had to fight increasing health insurance fraud. The amount of money spent on investigating and prosecuting fraud is then passed on to policyholders. Many people do not understand what health insurance fraud entails, though. With reports estimating health insurance fraud is a $30 billion to over $100 billion industry per year, the topic should not be taken lightly. Every health insurance policyholder should understand what health insurance fraud is and its consequences. By doing so, you are more able to recognize and fight fraud.

Health insurance fraud is typically defined as intentionally deceiving, misrepresenting, or concealing information to receive benefits from the insurance company. Essentially this means that you assert that you paid for certain medical procedures or expenses out-of-pocket which you have not actually received, and you are submitting claims to the insurance company to receive reimbursement. Another example of member fraud is to conceal pre-existing conditions or to alter medical documents so that non-policyholders or ineligible members receive medical benefits under your policy. Perhaps your sister does not have insurance and needs medical attention. Having her use your name and policy to cover the expenses is health insurance fraud. While you may think that this is a small issue in comparison to your sister receiving treatment, it is actually very serious to your health insurance company and industry, and will result in fines and possible imprisonment if your are caught. Read the rest of this entry »