Category Archives: health care

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The package of information came in the mail. It covered just one part of the Medicare plan choices: the Part D prescription drug coverage. It weighed two pounds. Health insurance decisions are weighty questions! Every year, you need to make those decisions. If you do nothing at all, you are choosing to continue with last year’s insurance, even if the premium or coverage has changed. What do you need to know to make a good decision?

Two pounds is a lot of paper, but you don’t need to read that much. The key is figuring out the important questions. Just four questions will give most people all the information they need to make a decision: Continue reading →

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Health insurance costs a lot — family coverage costs more than $1300 per month. Most people can’t afford that. In other countries, the government provides health insurance. Not here. So what can you do to get help paying for health insurance? Continue reading →

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I couldn’t believe the bill — $447 for a single office visit. Even worse, the bill said my share was $168. I thought my deductible was $75, so that seemed like too much. As I always do when faced with puzzling bills, I called the insurance company.

This is the one of a series of articles on understanding health insurance. Click here for all of the articles. This series covers basics — exceptions and complications go beyond the basics.

Decoding the bill

The woman on the help line patiently went through the bill. Continue reading →

puzzle © Ionescu Bogdan – Fotolia.com

Cathy’s son was born with a heart defect that needed immediate surgery and then continuing expensive care as he grew up. She told her story on #getcovered:

“My husband and I … both had good jobs and insurance and figured that meant that we would be all set should we ever need it. We soon learned, however, that like so many Americans, we were underinsured: we had coverage–it just didn’t really cover anything when it came to the care our son needed to save his life.”

This is the one of a series of articles on understanding health insurance. Click here for all of the articles. This series covers basics — exceptions and complications go beyond the basics.

Wait — they had health insurance, and it still didn’t pay for her son’s medical care? That’s right. Cathy and her husband ended up maxing out their credit cards and eventually going bankrupt to pay for their son’s medical care. Continue reading →

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Last year, I paid $30 for my flu shot. This year, I’ll pay nothing, as long as I go to my own clinic or one of dozens of others approved by my health insurance company. That’s one of the changes made by the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare).

The Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) requires insurance policies to cover ten basic areas: Continue reading →

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In 2013, Chris had inexpensive health insurance. His premiums were only $200 each month. That sounds pretty good, especially since average premiums for a single person are more than $400 per month.

This is the one of a series of articles on understanding health insurance. Click here for all of the articles. This series covers basics — exceptions and complications go beyond the basics.

Trouble was — Chris’s actual health care costs were a lot higher. Besides paying the premium, he had to pay $3,000 of medical costs out of his pocket before the insurance paid a dime. Premiums are just one of the costs to look at when you buy health insurance. Continue reading →