Week 18 Health Insurance

Health insurance is mind boggling! Just ask anyone!

Prices on healthcare go up every year. Different insurances go through only certain doctors.

Large firms and places of work have insurance. Many small places + if you do freelance they don't have health insurance available. It's extremely costly to small businesses.

If you have to get your own insurance, what is the process, how do you get it? 

There used to be 3 or 4 health insurance company options, and now there is only 1. The 1 and only option is Medica:

Medica isn't exactly new to market. It's a shoot off from UnitedHealthcare, which has been around for a long time. 

If you ever have to sign up for your own insurance, you have a window of time to do so. Usually somewhere between November 1 through December 15, 2020, for the 2021 calendar year. 

If you work freelance, or in a small company, and Medica is your only option, that there is just one plan. They have different plans to choose from to fit your needs. 

The cheapest option isn't always your best option. Yes you may not be paying much monthly, but your overall cost yearly may be a ton of money! Oftentimes the cheapest option is also limiting with doctor choices. 

Yes you are young, but just one big expense like getting your appendix out could be devastating to your yearly expense. 

Feel overwhelmed with your choices? Ask a pro! Seriously! That's what they get paid for!

Medica's Address:

331 Village Pointe Plaza Suite 304, Omaha, NE 68118 Hours: 9 AM to 4 PM 888 | 592 | 8211

A few things about doctor's offices, and hospitals:

Doctor's offices and hospitals will try to put pressure on you to pay right away. Remember they are a business to.

Many doctor's offices will go down 10 to 20% if you pay everything upfront. Ask right away if you pay upfront, how much will your bill be then? It may be worth it if you talk them down.

If they don't have a discount, let them know that you have other expenses! Cough - Like Student Loans! Tell them you can only pay X amount of money each month. They will try to get you to pay more, but you do not by law have to!

Hospitals are a bit different. They have a whole medical billing department. If you get a bill through the hospital note that it is best to ask for an itemized statement. This breaks the bill down, for you. Sometimes hospitals do try and sneak things in, that you didn't have done.

Ask if you can get them to lower your bill because you need financial assistance. They will have you apply for Medicaid. It does not matter if you qualify, or not. If you are asking for assistance, they still want to see that you've applied. Once they get the "You're not qualified" paperwork, you send that in, and then the hospital will adjust your total bill. Sometimes they will take off $2,000! So it's worth all that paperwork!

Medicaid is for children and adults under the age of 65 - medical conditions and/or low income. You can enroll in Medicaid any time of year.

Medicare is for adults over the age of 65. Adults over the age of 65 can have Medicaid as well if they are low income.

One other term:

Deductible: The amount you or your family can pay out of pocket yearly. In an insurance policy, the deductible is the amount paid out of pocket by the policy holder before an insurance provider will pay any expenses.

Health Savings Account:

A Health Savings Account (HSA) is fairly new to the market.

You sign up for an HSA through your bank. You put money into it from your checking/regular savings account into it. Every year there's an max amount of money to put into it. $7,000 was last year. Do not go over this amount! Keep a tally of the money you put into it! Use this because: It helps with tax deductions!

What you can use it for:

1. To pay for your monthly health insurance bill
2. Over the counter meds/vitamins
3. Prescription meds
4. Humidifier
5. Dental bills
6. Orthodontist bills 
7. Doctor bills
8. Hospital bills
9. Therapy bills

ANY medical related. The dentist is included.

This guy talks about an HSA through a company. You can get one, through your bank as well.

Now if you've put money into the HSA, and you don't use it, it rolls into the next year to help you out.

Alternatives:

You can belong to organizations that pool people together to pay for insurance. Yes you have to pay to belong to the organization, but it may be worth it with all the advantages they have to offer.

Common organizations in our field:

AIGA Nebraska and Iowa

Graphic Artist Guild is popular in other big cities like Kansas City, Chicago, New York, Atlanta...

AltHealthIns by AlissaSpiehs-Apel on Scribd