Illinois health insurance - Time Saving Tip Filling Out An Application

I have yet to meet a self-employed business owner who was looking for an Illinois health insurance plan who loved the idea of taking a lot of time to fill out a health insurance application correctly. I mean let’s face it, to self-employed individuals, time is money and they only get paid when they are working. Usually the first question they ask is; how long is this going to take? That is one question that is hard to answer without knowing the health history of the individual or the family involved. The more health history a family has the longer it’s going to take to fill out the application.

One very good way of saving time is being organized when it comes to your health insurance. The first thing you need to do to save time in the future is to fill out one application as thoroughly and accurately as possible. You need to have a good foundation to start from. One suggestion I would make if you’re unsure of the dates and times when you saw your doctor you could get a copy of your medical records from your doctor to help fill out the application. Once you have one application that has been filled out 100% correctly make a copy of it and keep it on file.

The next thing to do is keep track of all your doctor office visits and why you were there.

* Condition
* Start & End date
* Treatment
* Doctors contact information
* Any medications prescribed

This could be done several different ways. You could make notes on your calendar or you could keep track of it on your computer for example in a spreadsheet format. Then in the future when you needed to fill out an application for Illinois health insurance you could take out the copy of the application that was filled out 100% correctly and transfer that information over to the new application. Then take your calendar notes or your spreadsheet notes and fill in the missing health history on the application.

This would save you a lot of time if you needed to fill out a new application, simply because you wouldn’t have to re-create the wheel every single year or every time you needed to shop the market for a more competitive rate.

Think about your reward - No More Stress - No More Worries - and Mission Accomplished!

Randy Gillespie is the owner of Focus Insurance Group, get expert help from an agent specializing in Illinois health insurance, & Illinois Medicare. To learn more visit his site at www.Focusinsgroup.com

Tags: Focus Insurance Group, Illinois health insurance, Illinois Medicare

Illinois Health Insurance - Pre-Existing Conditions May Be A Problem

Pre-existing health conditions may make things difficult to find health insurance, but not impossible. Not if you deal with the right Illinois health insurance broker.
While you may just be dealing with a pre-existing health condition, this does not totally boot you out of the ballpark for being able to get Illinois health insurance. It may take a bit longer, but it definitely is possible. Yes, there are some insurance companies that will decline coverage to people who have had a major medical condition or an existing one. What is the solution then? The solution is to deal with an Illinois health insurance broker who handles multiple carriers. They will be able to shop your condition(s) around and find you coverage.

Actually, there are several ways to find Illinois health insurance and employer sponsored group health plans are one of them. In fact, this route may be one of the better ones for you if you do have a pre-existing health condition. The reason a group Illinois health insurance plan is a smart choice is because group plans must take everyone in the group, no matter what their medical history happens to be.

Many of the group Illinois health insurance plans are subsidized by an employer which ultimately means the premiums are way more affordable. If you choose to leave the place where you work, then you may qualify for COBRA for up to 18 months, provided “you” keep on paying the premiums. This may be an burdensome expense to carry alone, as if you are not working the company doesn’t pay a portion of the premium and longer. While it’s true that the federal government does pay about 65% of the premium for about nine months, after that you are on your own.

Another way to get decent Illinois health insurance is if you opt to have a health insurance plan that has a higher deductible. For instance, you would fare way better by applying for a $6,000 deductible health savings account (HSA) than to try and get a $600 deductible co-pay plan if you have medical problems. By going for the higher deductible it often will open more doors coverage wise for you. Having said that, if you happen to have a high risk medical condition such as diabetes or HIV your chances of being accepted for major medical, even with a high deductible is fairly limited. Ask your local insurance broker, as there are often ways around issues like this that the broker is able to try to assist you.

Another way to get Illinois health insurance is to find a company, or your insurance broker will find a company for you, that sells guaranteed issue health insurance. This basically means they would sell insurance to everyone who applies despite your health history. These are usually classified as limited benefit health plans and are not to be compared with major medical. However, they do offer defined benefits that have less comprehensive coverage.

There are other options available for Illinois health insurance and you can find out what they are by speaking to an Illinois insurance expert.

Think about your reward – No More Stress – No More Worries – And Mission Accomplished!

Randy Gillespie is the owner of Focus Insurance Group, get expert help from an agent specializing in Illinois health insurance, & Illinois Medicare. To learn more visit his site at www.Focusinsgroup.com

Tags: Illinois group health insurance, Illinois health insurance, Illinois Medicare

Family Health Insurance in Illinois – Protecting the Health of Your Loved Ones

While the debate over health care reform still rages on in Washington, it’s important to not forget about the options already available to us to provide health insurance for our families. In the state of Illinois, around 86.3% of its residents currently have health insurance, which is used to see their primary care physicians. That means 13.7% of Illinois residents are currently uninsured. The state ranks 25th in the country in terms of how much of its population is without health insurance. Overall, of all the states, Illinois ranks 31st in a 2008 report, that lists all 50 states by the health care systems they have in place, as well as the quality of care.

In 2008, the state of Illinois had 128.9 ready to access primary care doctors for every 100,000 of the state’s residents. Like many other places of the more populated areas of the country, it should not be a shock that cost of living is quite so high in places like Chicago. But believe it or not, you can still find affordable, quality family health insurance plans to insure your loved ones.

One of the ways to help afford quality family health insurance is to get a health saving account. A health savings account is tax reduced, or sometimes tax free, saving account made available to those who have a high deductible health plan. It is to be used strictly for paying for qualified medical expenses only. Those who have a high deductible health plan pay more in deductibles because they pay much less in monthly premiums than most others do. The good thing about a health savings account is that the money you put into it is not counted towards your federal income tax at the time you put the money into it.

A health savings account is kind of like a flexible spending account, as they are both used to help offset the cost of health care. They are different in that health savings account will allow funds to be rolled over to the next year if they are not spent, whereas as a flexible spending account will not roll over from year to year. They are setup much like an IRA in that you will not be taxed on money used for medical purposes, whereas you will be taxed should you use the money on non-medical purchases. If you are located in Illinois and are looking for ways to provide quality, but affordable, health insurance for your family, then please visit http://www.focusinsgroup.com for more info.

Randy Gillespie is the owner of Focus Insurance Group, get expert help from an agent specializing in Illinois family health insurance, & Illinois Medicare. To learn more visit his site at www.Focusinsgroup.com

Tags: Focus Insurance Group, Illinois Family Health Insurance, Illinois Medicare

Illinois Family Health Insurance – How To Pick The Best Co-Pay Plan For Your Family

There are not a lot of families in the United States today that wouldn’t be willing to switch their Illinois family health insurance to a different carrier if they could lower their premiums and keep the same benefit level. Believe it or not, even in the marketplace today it’s worth looking in to. As long as you go about it correctly and get good help it shouldn’t be a problem at all.

So how do you go about picking the best doctor office co-pay plan for your family? You need to take a close look at the benefit outlines of each carrier that you’re interested in. One of the best ways, I think, to do this would be to use an online quoting engine and take advantage of the help of a good broker.

One of the most important things to compare is the deductible. Not just the amount, which is important, but also how many deductibles you have to meet per family. With some carriers you only have to meet two deductibles per family with other carriers you would have to meet three.
Another thing to keep an eye on is how many different coinsurance levels does your family have to meet? Again with some carriers it’s only two and with other carriers it could be three. Another way to look at this is to compare the family max out-of-pocket.

Doctor office co-pays can vary as well, they range anywhere from $20 up to $40 per doctor office visit. Some carriers even charged double that for specialist co-pays.

With the price of prescription drugs today it’s very important to take a close look at what your prescription drug coverage would be upfront and what your prescription co-pays would be. Prescription drug co-pays can vary quite a bit between carriers. For the most part there are four tiers to prescription drugs.

Tier 1 - Generic
Tier 2 - Formulary or Preferred Name Brand Drugs
Tier 3 - Non Formulary or Name Brand Drugs
Tier 4 - Specialty drugs

Sometimes specialty drugs have annual limitations as well, which should be taken into consideration.

Take a close look at what kind of annual wellness benefit is offered. Most carriers have started to limit this annual routine benefit to $300-$1000. State-mandated benefits typically do not count towards the annual benefit amount allowed.

So when you take a close look at these areas when choosing your Illinois family health insurance plan that’ll make your decision making process a lot easier.

Think about your reward -No More Stress-No More Worries-And Mission Accomplished!

Randy Gillespie is the owner of Focus Insurance Group, get expert help from an agent specializing in Illinois family health insurance, & Illinois Medicare. To learn more visit his site at www.Focusinsgroup.com

Tags: Focus Insurance Group, Illinois Family Health Insurance, Illinois Medicare