There are many benefits to group health insurance plans but they aren’t always the best option.
Sure, the employer picks up part of the tab but employers are also passing more of the cost to employees than ever before.
Here are a couple examples of when a group plan may not be the best option:
- The group plan is considered a mini-med health plan. Mini-med plans are typically offered by restaurants and to part-time workers but there are a lot of exclusions in the plan and they will only coverage a percentage of health costs.
- Deductibles on high deductible plans continue to get more expensive. At some point, certain deductibles are no longer affordable to consumers depending on their budget. F
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Financial planning can have a positive effect on familial relationships for Americans who have limits on how much financial assistance they can offer to family members, a new study says.
Although most Americans believe that parents should financially support their children through college and in an emergency, they do not believe in providing financial assistance in all situations, according to a MetLife survey.
The survey of baby boomers (born between 1946 and 1964), Gen X adults (1965–1976) and Gen Y adults (1977–1990) found that 44% of survey respondents say they would feel a “strong or absolute” responsibility to help an adult child with a financial setback not of their own making.
Yet only 11% feel obligated to help when the situation results from poor spending habits, the survey found.
Exactly 7% said they feel a “strong or absolute” responsibility to contribute to the down payment on a house for their adult child.
The survey indicated that 70% of boomers said enjoying retirement takes precedence over leaving an inheritance, compared to 64% of Gen X and 57% of Gen Y respondents.
“Americans have a strong desire to help their families financially, but their generosity is not unbounded,” said Sandra Timmermann, director of the MetLife Mature Market Institute, in a statement. “While the rese
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With more people getting body art, theres a lot that can go wrong. What happens when a tattoo leads to an infection, or when a client is unhappy with the result and decides to sue? Is there insurance to protect the artist? What about the client?
If a tattoo artist slips up and inks I love Moom, a client may be able to recover some dough from the artists insurance company. That is, of course, if the artist has liability insurance to begin with.
The insurance issue is arising more often as the popularity of tattoos climbs.
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Some insurance providers are now offering bedbug insurance, according to the LA Times. Bedbugs are tiny, seven millimeter long insects that invade hotel rooms, apartment buildings and dorms causing expensive problems. They’re very hard to eliminate creating a costly issue. The newspaper reports that most infestations, whether it’s raccoons or rats, aren’t typically covered by insurance policies. But now there is coverage available for bedbugs.
Lawmakers put pressure on insurance companies to offer coverage since some property owners were experiencing large losses in value because of the pesky bugs. Companies now offering the insurance include Aon Risk Solutions of Chicago, Willis North America, and NSM Insurance Group. “You’
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Today’s headlines highlight news that the recession has held down health spending.
Insuring Your Health: The Health Law Goes Graphic
In her latest Kaiser Health News consumer column, Michelle Andrews writes: “Nearly two years after the passage of the federal health law, more than 40 percent of people say they know little or nothing about how the law will affect them. … Jonathan Gruber, an economist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, aims to change that with a book, ‘Health Care Reform: What It Is, Why It’s Necessary, How It Works,’ that explains the ins and outs of the law in an innovative way: an adult comic-strip form similar to graphic novels” (Andrews, 1/9).
National Health Spending Grew Slowly In 2010
Kaiser Health News staff writer Marilyn Werber Serafini reports: “National health care spending grew slowly for the second consecutive year in 2010, bringing it in line with growth in the U.S. eco
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As the end of the year approaches, so does the need for using a deductible effectively. Whether you reached the deductible this year or not, try to think of ways you could get more use out of it in 2012.
Try following some of these tips for 2012:
- If you hit the deductible in 2011, try to use more health care services before the end of the year. This is pretty last minute but you have a couple days left to take advantage of reaching the deductible this year.
- Don’t put off health care services in 2012 if you need them. If you reach the deductible earlier in the year, then you’ll have more time to receive health insurance coverage for services. (Th
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