On a broader scale, the survey found that health insurance costs outranked housing costs, rising food prices and credit card bills as a source of concern. Twenty-eight percent of those surveyed said they had experienced serious problems because of the cost of health insurance benefits, compared with 29% who had problems getting a good job or a raise. Gasoline prices were the top economic worry, with 44% saying they had serious problems keeping up with increases at the pump.

A companion poll also detected an important shift among voters: Independents in particular say they are more concerned about reducing medical costs than about increasing the number of Americans with health insurance.

Some people marry for love, some for companionship, and others for …health insurance. Would you marry for health care?

Reach Out to Children with Autism

Coverage for autism treatments is still far from common, but it is improving. Some large employers offer policies that cover treatment, and 15 states have passed laws mandating at least some autism health insurance coverage.  In addition, Maine and New Hampshire both have legislation pending that could pass soon. But as for why autism isn’t covered in the first place, the industry insists that behavioral therapy is an educational measure, not a medical one, and therefore not its bailiwick.

If you do have coverage, watch for limitations. Because treatment for autism is so individualized, there are few uniform standards or protocols for insurance companies to follow. That means parents often have to argue that a certain therapy or treatment is necessary. Also, be sure to check any caps on treatment, Mr. Sell warns. What may look generous — say $36,000 a year — can be spent quickly. Or there may be limits on how many sessions of a particular type of therapy will be paid for each year.

It’s not like you read your insurance policy and you can see a specific exclusion. You can submit bills, and you may get denials back that said ‘experimental… denied,’ or ‘provided by a non-licensed provider… denied.’ Or sometimes the insurance companies would say ‘this therapy is educational in nature, not medical… denied.’”

And you will want to coordinate your autism health insurance coverage with the services you may be receiving from your child’s school. If an occupational therapist sees your child regularly in school, for example, you may want to save your insurance dollars for social interaction therapies.

In addition, you may need to be especially aggressive about health insurance coverage for some medical conditions. Gastrointestinal problems, for instance, are extremely common in autistic children.

OPM has refused to obey a federal judge’s administrative order telling the agency to rescind a directive to Karen Golinski’s health insurance company, Blue Cross Blue Shield, that said her spouse is not eligible to receive family health insurance benefits.

Agency officials reluctantly refused to obey the order, even though the Obama administration supports legislation that would allow health insurance benefits for same-gender partners of federal employees and the repeal of a law that defines marriage as a union between a man and woman.

“OPM must administer the FEHBP [Federal Employees Health Benefits Program] in a lawful manner, and the Department of Justice (DOJ) has advised the OPM that providing those benefits would violate the so-called ‘Defense of Marriage Act,’ ” OPM General Counsel Elaine Kaplan said in a written statement last month.

Golinski, a lawyer employed by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit, wed in California when the state permitted same-sex marriages. Her lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California on Wednesday, asks the court to direct OPM to obey the order Alex Kozinski, chief judge of the 9th circuit, previously issued in his administrative capacity.

“It’s a bit shocking that we’ve reached this point with the Obama administration. Where is our ‘fierce advocate’ for LGBT rights?” said Jennifer C. Pizer, National Marriage Project director for Lambda Legal and co-counsel for Golinski. “Simply defying his orders is a slap in the face to Karen and the entire LGBT [lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender] community and bizarrely disrespects the judiciary. At a minimum, federal courts have the power and responsibility to end discrimination against their own employees.”

Federal law does not require employers to provide health insurance benefits and coverage to the same-sex spouses and domestic partners. If your employer does not cover your same-sex partner, check your state laws whether health insurance plans extended to the spouses of the beneficiary are required to cover the same-sex couples.

For example, in New York, the same-sex couples in marriages validly performed outside of New York must be treated as spouses for the purposes of New York Insurance Laws, including health insurance. Thus, if an employer chooses to extend its employees’ health insurance coverage to spouses, other family members, or dependents, the employer may not distinguish between types of spouses or other such persons in a manner that is unlawfully discriminatory

Source: The Washington Post

Health Savings Accounts

Health Savings Accounts, tax-advantaged medical savings accounts available to taxpayers in the United States, will become a more popular health insurance option in 2010 as consumers will be able to deduct more of their contributions to these accounts.

Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) were created by the Medicare bill signed by President Bush on December 8, 2003 and are designed to help individuals save for future qualified medical and retiree health expenses on a tax-free basis. Though HSAs have expanded steadily since their introduction, they remain relatively rare.

Currently, eight million Americans are enrolled in HSAs, which are available to individuals and families with high deductible health plans. Unspent HSA money rolls over and continues to accrue tax-free interest. Like 401(k)s and IRAs, it’s a plan intended to encourage users to save up big cash cushions they can tap later in life.

According to the Internal Revenue Service, the annual contribution limit on deductions for HSAs will increase $50 to $3,050 in 2010 for an eligible individual with self-only coverage and jump $200 to $6,150 for family coverage.

With the April 15 tax deadline just around the corner, now is a great time for people to start looking for ways to ease their tax burden for 2010. Health plans with HSAs offer protection and a tax-free way to invest—all at a cost that usually is less than what purchasers would pay for a traditional plan.

Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum

“Never before has Congress compelled Americans, under threat of government fines or taxes, to buy health insurance or other unwanted service simply as a condition of existing in this country,” McCollum wrote.

Several prominent legal scholars dispute McCollum’s analysis and say that under the Commerce Clause in the U.S. Constitution, Congress can require people to buy health insurance. The argument that the mandate violates the Constitution has “no legal merit,” said Erwin Chemerinsky, a constitutional law expert and dean at the University of California-Irvine School of Law.

“It’s obvious he’s just posturing,” said state Sen. Dan Gelber, a Miami Democrat running for attorney general who has been vocal in his opposition to McCollum’s position. “He’s had some kind of announcement about this every week, and the bill hasn’t even passed yet. It’s so premature – and tragically ironic, since Florida has the worst health care crisis in the country, with 4 million uninsured, and all the attorney general wants to do is saber rattle against any kind of reform.”

Source: South Florida Sun-Sentinel

Obesity Health Insurance

Charging obese policyholders more is a hot topic among private health insurers. The rationale is twofold. First, fat people are more likely to develop expensive health problems. Second, fat can be avoided or reduced through exercise and healthy eating. If we charge fat people more for health insurance—or charge thin people less, which amounts to the same thing—people will improve their habits.

Insurers have been moving aggressively in this direction. But there are two different ways to implement such “wellness incentives.” Some employers reward workers just for participating in wellness programs. Others peg their rewards to the bottom line. Hit the weight target, or you don’t get the discount.

Incentives based on outcome, as opposed to incentives based on effort, are hugely controversial because weight loss is much easier for some people than for others. Biological factors such as genes make some of us more susceptible to weight gain. So do environmental factors such as poverty.

Beginning in 2010, Alabama will be the first state to tax overweight employees primarily because it has the second highest obesity rate of 30.0% according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Mississippi has the largest obesity rate). Alabama is not alone in its plan to fine overweight workers; this year, a hospital chain in Indiana, Clarian, will withdraw $10 from the paychecks of overweight employees who yield poor signs of improvement.

One of the motives behind this tax policy is that overweight employees’ trips to the doctor exceed those of their counterparts, yet they pay the same amount in insurance premiums. Not to add, increased doctor visits cause insurance premiums to rise for all. More importantly, obese and overweight employees are vulnerable to illnesses such as heart disease, stroke, and diabetes and in turn have a shorter life expectancy. So the insurance tax penalty will combat this dilemma by charging overweight employees who make little or no effort to improve their wellness

Did you know that being overweight can reduce your chances for health insurance? The reasoning is simple: overweight individuals cost the company more in health insurance costs.

Overweight Health Insurance

So you’re in perfectly good health, but you say to yourself, “I should get some health insurance.” If you’re fat, most insurers will turn you down. “That’s illegal, isn’t it?” you say. “Can they do that?” Well, they can and they do. You can be declined for the insurance on the basis that you are outside their accepted weight limits.

The underwriters use a system for determining your height and weight calculations to determine acceptable ranges. The correlation of the two defines a number called the BMI or ” body mass index” and gives the underwriters an estimate of body fat.

According to the department of human health services a BMI of 30 is considered obese and 25 to 29.9 is overweight. If your BMI is higher than 43 you will not likely qualify for traditional health insurance coverage. If your BMI is between 29-43, a health insurer may choose to offer you health insurance with a rated up premium.

If you have pre-existing health issues in relation to your weight, such as diabetes, hypertension or heart disease, a health insurer may deny you coverage altogether, even if your BMI is within range. In addition to the BMI the belly fat or waist circumference is a good indicator of future health problems associated with excess weight such as type 2 diabetes and hypertension.

However, there are some health insurance companies that understand overweight people’s needs. Health insurance for overweight people comes in a hefty price albeit, worth it. These insurance plans’ rates are higher up to 50% than the regular premium rate. For those who can afford it, they can enjoy full health insurance coverage.

For individuals who can’t afford the full coverage health insurance for overweight people, they can always opt for a much lower premium but with a insurance rider. An insurance rider allows full coverage of any illness except those triggered by your pre existing conditions or those illnesses connected to your being overweight. Some people may think that it is quite ironic, since these overweight related illness is the deciding factor in which they want to get an overweight  health insurance. But a little coverage is better than no coverage at all.

Term life policies provide protection for up to 30 years. Many term life plans are available for a period for 10, 15, 20, or 30 years of coverage.

If you die during the term of your policy, your beneficiary receives the death benefit of your life insurance. If you outlive the term of your policy, your life insurance ends.

What is term life insurance with no exam needed?

Term life with no exam means you may qualify for your life insurance protection without having to take any physical exam.

In fact, no health exam life insurance requires no medical checkup, no blood test, and no urine tests. There are usually a few medical questions for you to answers.

How can the life insurance companies offer life insurance without requiring any health exam?

Your answers to the health questions asked in the online application for coverage help the insurance company to decide if they will accept you for life insurance.

How much life insurance is available without any health exam?

The answer depends on the insurance company, your age and your current health.

Some life insurance companies may offer you up to $500,000 of life insurance without requiring a physical.

How long does it take to get approved?

Actually, you can get an instant quote online, apply for life insurance, and find out (usually within 15 minutes) the same day if you qualify for life insurance with no health checkup.

Why do people choose life insurance with no exams?

There may be several reasons for you to buy a no medical exam life insurance policy.

Some people don’t have time to meet with an agent, take a physical examination, and wait 6-8 weeks to get approved and receive their life insurance policy. This type of life insurance makes it easy and convenient to get insured.

Also, there are some people who don’t like physical exams, or maybe they have a fear of needles or blood. This actually affects more people than you might imagine.

So, no exam life insurance offers a way to get the life insurance coverage you need without the hassles and inconvenience of a physical exam.

Term life insurance no medical exam policies offer you the opportunity to begin your life insurance coverage today, if you qualify.

If you have been putting off purchasing life insurance to protect your family, this may be an option for you to consider.

Here’s how you can learn more about Term Life Insurance No Exam required and find out if it meets your family’s life insurance needs.

Women pay more for health insurance

Women pay more and get less in today’s health insurance system. They tend to need more preventive care and therefore are subject to more co-pays and deductibles, and single heads of households are often women, meaning they’re responsible for the family’s health care bills.

In a practice known as “gender rating,” insurance companies in the individual market routinely charge women higher premiums than men—in some cases up to 48 percent more—for the same plan. Women also have higher out-of-pocket costs and greater rates of being “underinsured” because they are more likely to suffer from a chronic condition and have more routine health care needs.

In addition, many individual market insurance plans do not even cover basic services such as maternity care and will deny coverage in whole or in part because of what they deem to be pre-existing conditions, such as domestic violence or having had a Caesarian section.

As a result, women are more likely to delay or go without needed medical care because they cannot afford it. In total, about 21 million women and girls are uninsured. And a recent study found that over half of all medical bankruptcies are filed by women, most of whom had some type of health insurance coverage when they filed.

Married to pay more for health insurance

If the bill passes in its current form, it would be far from the first example of federal and social benefits creating incentives to remain single. Under current law, marriage can have a negative impact on a person’s ability to claim the earned income tax credit and welfare benefits including food stamps.

In any progressive system of taxes or benefits, there are trade-offs between how well-targeted a subsidy is and how equitable it is, said Stacy Dickert- Conlin, an economics professor at Michigan State University.

“You might like to have it be progressive, equitable and marriage-neutral. But you have to decide what your goals are, because you can’t accomplish all three,” she said.

The marriage penalty in the health bill has not been a major focus of attack by Republican opponents of the bill, who are focusing on larger themes such as new taxes in the bill and growth in government spending.

But it has caught the attention of some conservative groups, who claim that the prospect of reduced subsidies will dissuade people from tying the knot.
-By Martin Vaughan, Dow Jones Newswires