Do You Get Affordable Health Insurance Plans If You Are Retiring at 60?

With talk in every personal finance magazine about how lots of people can look forward from this point on to nothing but diminished savings for their old age and working to 80 to make up for it, you'd think that there was practically no one retiring early anymore. That's not true, of course; some people do find that they are lucky to retire even before 62.

Anyone planning to do that though, does need to think ahead and do a little extra planning. For instance, if you plan to retire at 60, you know you're not old enough to be eligible for Medicare. But that doesn't mean that the private insurance industry considers you young enough to allow you near their affordable health insurance plans. What do you do?

With the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (otherwise unflatteringly known as Obamacare) coming in to the rescue, affordable health insurance plans do exist now - even if you have pre-existing conditions (you would have to be Superman to be 60 and not have pre-existing conditions).

Certainly, "affordable" health insurance plans for early retirees is not to be taken to mean that they will cost the same as what a 30-year-old would pay. Insurance does cost more as you grow older. But it won't be as bad as it used to be. In addition, anyone who takes a no-coverage early-retirement deal when they retire will have protection too.

But this does come with one big caveat. If you're one of those 60-year-olds who are so healthy you feel no need to pay for insurance just yet, you have to know that the healthcare reform bill makes it mandatory for everyone to have health insurance. If you don't comply by the year 2014, there'll be a penalty - of at least 1% of your income.

But right now, if you're too young to qualify for Medicare, this is what you need to do for affordable health insurance plans. Right now, if you have employer-sponsored health insurance, you can keep it for one and a half years after you retire. That's what COBRA does for you. But you do have to pay the premium. A few months before that plan runs out, you need to start shopping for your own insurance.

How exactly do you do this? Individual policies certainly are expensive; but the health care reform act makes sure that at the most, they can charge you three times what they charge a young and healthy person. And there are subsidies too if you don't make that much (four times over the poverty line is the formula they follow).

If you're finding it hard to get coverage because you have a pre-existing condition that makes your premiums go up too high for you, you can always take advantage of the high insurance pool that the federal government funds. Whatever questions you have in the matter, your state insurance commissioner's office should really be able to guide you.

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Expensive Group Florida Health Insurance Plans Make Individual Plans More Appealing

According to a new analysis of the nation's 10 largest states, Florida ranked highest in terms of the average cost for group Florida health insurance premiums for family coverage. Last year, the cost of family coverage in Florida per employee averaged $15,032 according to the federal Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality in Rockville, Maryland. The state of Ohio, which came in with the least expensive options, only had an average premium cost of $13,083 per employee.

The investigation showed that 30.3 percent of employees who enroll in employer-sponsored Florida health insurance plans select family coverage. It also found out that 51.3 percent select individual coverage and 18.3 percent enroll in employee-plus-one dependent health care coverage.

Do Individual Florida Health Insurance Plans Cost Less Than Group Coverage?

When you are trying to compare individual and group coverage plans, your head may be spinning from the many choices. If you're looking for the least costly options, take a look at FL health insurance plans that require you to pay for health care up to an annual limit. These are called high-deductible plans, even though the deductible may range from $500 to $20,000.

Typically, plans with higher deductibles have lower premiums. Many people are finding that it's actually cheaper to buy their own plan than to continue paying for escalating premiums on group coverage. That is especially true for employees who need to add family members to their coverage.

Some employers are also allowing employees to select policies within a certain range and contributing to the cost of the insurance, possibly through payroll deductions. The high-deductible plans that work with Health Savings Accounts often have premiums so low that small businesses have been able to not only continue to provide employees with health plan coverage on the job, but to also expand coverage for employee's families.

Are Florida Health Insurance Premiums The Only Cost To Consider?

Premiums don't represent the true cost of Florida health insurance. After you've spent enough on health care to meet the annual deductible, you may still have a co-insurance payment. Some plans with 100-percent co-insurance pay for almost all medical treatment once the deductible has been met. Other plans may have 80-percent or another percentage of co-insurance.

Fifty-percent co-insurance, for example, would mean that you're still responsible for half of the medical bills after you've met the plan's deductible. In addition, some plans may have multiple deductibles or the extent of the deductible may not be clear.

If a policy specifies a $5,000 deductible, check whether that is per family member. A couple with two children could end up with a $20,000 annual deductible if every family member has a $5,000 deductible before their health care is covered.

Health Care Reform Has Already Taken A Big Bite Out Of Deductibles

FL health insurance plans purchased this year have no co-pays or other out-of-pocket costs for preventive health care. Health insurance for Florida that was purchased before the law was changed still enforces deductibles the old way, but plans purchased today exempt many recommended forms of health care from being subject to a deductible.

Some of the preventive care that's now covered includes your annual physical exam, colonoscopies, mammograms, and screening procedures to detect other diseases. If you get these services from outside of the plan's network of providers, you'll probably have to pay for at least part of the bill. That's another reason why it's critical to review provider lists before you apply for coverage.

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Quality Healthcare at No Cost

Health is wealth. And the only way to make sure you don't get bankrupt is to take care of the body. However, no matter how careful and vain people are, they can still be vulnerable to diseases and/or mishaps that may necessitate immediate and extensive medical attention. The problem comes when it comes to hospital bills. You don't want to exhaust yourself and worsen you're health condition because of worrying where to get the money to pay the doctors.

This is why health insurance is very important. When you're lying in the hospital bed, you want to have peace of mind and make use of your energy to regain strength and not to worry on financial matters. If you have a health plan, you can be assured that you have someone to assist you when it comes to the finances. Even if you haven't been hospitalized yet, having insurance is still beneficial especially if you're taking one for the entire family. If you have health coverage, you no longer have to think about the regular checkups of your children, medications when they're ill, and laboratory tests and examinations which are very costly. But in the US, there are still a lot of citizens not yet insured.

The reason why many are hesitant to get the insurance is the cost. Paying a monthly premium is not an easy task. There are still other bills to consider. Fortunately, there are so many ways on how people can avail of free health insurance.

Different states offer different free insurance programs. Usually, it is offered to children 18 years old and below (that means babies are included). There are states that provide free health insurance to senior citizens or those who are 65 years old and above. Some offer it to pregnant women and adults from programs sponsored by either the state or the federal government.

But not all of these people can immediately apply for free insurance. There are some criteria or eligibility rules that they need to meet and it depends on each state. Generally, the income of the applicant is taken into consideration when approving free health insurance requests. In most states, families who earn 34,000 dollars and below a year can be entitled to a free health plan.

Everyone is entitled to have access to a quality health care. Believe it or not, you can be entitled to a free health insurance. That is if you fall under the qualifications set forth by the government.

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Texas Health Insurance Exchange Still In Doubt

Texas State government has decided not to implement the health insurance exchange that's mandated federal law. Republican Governor Rick Perry strongly opposed the Affordable Care Act and threatened to reject any law pertaining to the implementation of a Texas health insurance exchange.

According to Rep. John Zerwas, MD, who sponsored the bill to create the Texas exchange, Gov. Perry is emphasizing that he does not want to be involved in the execution of health care reform in any possible way.

In contrast, the Texas Medical Association supports the Zerwas bill. Special grants would be offered to those with earnings at 400-percent of the federal poverty line to help them buy coverage through the exchange.

By January 2013, the Department of Health and Human Services will screen health insurance exchanges that have been created by different states. If these are deemed fit to operate in accordance with the health care reform law by 2014, states will retain control. If not, the federal government will step in to fulfill health care reform.

Steve Larsen, director of the HHS Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight, says that states who fail to enact their own exchange will have a second chance. They need to submit notice 12 months in advance, though.

What Is The Texas Health Insurance Exchange Alternative?

Gov. Perry approved a bill to create "health care collaboratives." Under this bill, health care organizations that take on the financial risk for treating consumers will be categorized as TX health insurance. Physicians will be given the opportunity to participate in more than one of these collaboratives.

Another alternative has been making news, too. In Camden, New Jersey, which is infamous as one of the poorest and most violent cities in the nation, an innovative idea has cut the cost of healthcare by 40 to 50 percent.

An official from the Obama administration and two members of Congress have already visited the city to some the new strategies. One idea is to bring health care to those who need it most. Two hotspots showed up as epicenters for the biggest medical bills. One of those areas was an apartment building for 300 disabled or elderly people. The reason why health care was so costly here was not the sheer volume, but that expensive emergency care was being substitutes for preventive care. They turned the cost of health care upside down here by adding a nurse practitioner's office in the building.

Having regular preventive care check-ups not only saved money, but also improved the quality of life for many of the apartment's residents because they received better care than what was available via the E.R.

Will A Texas Health Insurance Exchange Improve Preventive Health Care?

The health insurance exchange also stands to move people who couldn't previously afford TX health insurance out of the E.R. When more people have access to preventive health care, we may see a reduction in medical expense throughout most large cities.

If one of the poorest cities in the nation can cut medical costs by 40 to 50 percent while improving the quality of health care and reducing the need for health care, what stands in the way for other cities? Could it be that those who profit from high-priced emergency room care are holding us back?

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