In making plans for your child to go to college you carefully consider the school, living arrangements, books and other expenses. Student health insurance is usually not on top of the college to do list. In many cases, college students, up to a certain age, are covered by their parents’ coverage. There are instances where college students may not have benefits under a parent’s plan or their parents do not have health insurance coverage at all.

Read the full post on Student Health Insurance Plans.

A Michigan based company, Trinity Health, is currently initiating a transaction to acquire three hospitals from Catholic Health Initiates. Catholic Health Initiatives is a national nonprofit health organization whose headquarter is located in Denver, Colorado. The objective of this agreement would be to consolidate a total of four hospitals into a new regional health system located in Idaho.

Trinity currently owns 28 hospitals and manages another 14. As of late, Trinity has aimed to establish a closely managed and coordinated regional network of hospitals, nursing homes, and outpatient care centers. By establishing such a network Trinity hopes to position themselves to better negotiate managed care contracts.

Read the full post on New Regional Health System.

Recently one of our Advisors at MyInsuranceExpert.com received a phone call from a client they assisted getting health insurance for a week before. The client, who previously was on the fence about purchasing coverage, was very intent on finding out whether or not the policy was currently in force. Their six year old child had just been admitted to the local hospital and was in need of an appendectomy.

Our Advisor reviewed their file, and in fact their policy was currently active and in force. Even though the plan had an annual $7,500 out of pocket exposure it still saved the client about $15,000 in medical bills, and they were grateful.

Read the full post on Catastrophic Health Insurance for Catastrophic Events.

In this video we take a look at the benefits of private health care systems. By employing the right service we are able to find the best medical care at the best price. By allowing for a competitive health care system people have choices on what medical procedures they want done and when they want them done. What happens when the government decided to intervene and you don’t have the choices anymore?

A health maintenance organization, or HMO, is a type of managed care plan in which a network of health care providers contract with a health plan to provide services to those covered under the plan. Those covered under the HMO select, or are assigned, a primary care physician (PCP) who coordinates all care.

With an HMO plan, the patient must be referred to a specialist by the primary care physician in order for those services to be covered. A visit to a specialist will not be covered by the HMO if the referral is not made by the PCP. Services provided by healthcare providers who are not part of the HMO network will not be covered, unless the service is not available within the HMO.

Read the full post on Health Maintenance Organization (HMO).

Most health care consumers will ask, “What does my health insurance cover?” A good follow up question would be, “When does my health insurance cover that?” Many insureds have received denial letters and not understood why their claim was denied.

Read the full post on When Will Health Insurance Cover.

If you have recently lost your health insurance through your employer as a result of cut backs or termination of employment there are numerous options available to you to acquire major medical health insurance. You have the choice to shop around for an individual insurance policy or you can go through the COBRA option offered by your employer. The important thing to remember is to always look at all of your options.

Read the full post on COBRA vs. Individual Health Insurance.

If you are currently living in either North Carolina or Pennsylvania you are likely to see a substantial increase in your monthly health insurance premium. In North Carolina, according to an article by James Gallagher, insurance rates have increased 97% in the last decade, and the annual income amount has increased only 18%. Similarly in Pennsylvania Blue Cross has filed a request with the Pennsylvania Department of Insurance to increase their rates on a numerous health insurance products. On average Blue Cross members will experience an rate increase of at least 30%.

Read the full post on Health Insurance Rates Increase.

On July 27, 2009, Tracy Reiman, Executive Vice President for PETA, sent a letter to WellPoint, a major health insurance carrier. On behalf of PETA, Ms. Reiman requests that WellPoint consider lowering health insurance premiums for vegetarians, while raising premiums for those who eat meat. She cites a study which indicates that vegetarians are less likely to develop certain chronic diseases. She suggests that those who consume meat are driving the increase in health care costs and, as a result, should be financially penalized.

Read the full post on PETA Requests Vegetarian Health Insurance.

According to the AARP, an individual who regularly is taking four medications will pay more than $250 annually next year for their prescription drugs. The good news is that there is a very feasible way in which to actually save money on your prescriptions, and not be subjected to such a dramatic increase. Wal-Mart currently has stores in 49 different states who now offer $4 generic prescriptions. As a result of widespread success, Wal-Mart’s competitors have decided to create similar programs of their own.

Read the full post on Save Money On Prescription Drugs.