I’m Pregnant! Now What? (And I Don’t Have Arizona Maternity Coverage) –Ways To Save Money On Your Pregnancy!
April 7, 2009
Many women in America are in this situation today of not having Arizona Maternity Coverage. The reasons for not having maternity coverage are all too common: “I cannot afford it”, “I thought my coverage included maternity”, or “I just didn’t choose to have it in my plan because, we weren’t planning on having a baby yet”. Even though the reasons are different the end result is the same. It is such a shame that during one of the happiest times in a woman’s life has to be mingled in with worry and fear. It is my hope that the information in this article will provide clear answers and will help remove some of the anxiety you may be feeling. I remember when my wife was pregnant; we had enough to worry about let alone the financial aspects of having a baby.
So what are your options if you do not have Maternity Insurance in Arizona? Unfortunately, as you probably have already experienced the insurance avenue is out! Once you are pregnant, insurance companies will not accept you. It is kind of like trying to get auto insurance after a car wreck. Fortunately, there are a few choices you can make:
**Discount Medical Plans— Discount medical plans like Ameriplan are similar to traditional major medical plans yet are different. Major medical insurance plans are designed to help cover the costs of medical claims. Discount plans, however, just provide a better rate for health services. The nice thing about discount plans are they are significantly less expensive than traditional health plans and you can begin using the benefits from day one.
**Advocacy Groups— Similar to discount medical plans are maternity advocacy groups like Maternity Advantage. They help to negotiate the best pricing for lab work, help find the best doctor fees in your area, and help find errors in billing to help cut costs. Click the link above to have a maternity specialist help you better understand the different programs they have available for you.
**Cash Pay Option— Most OBGYN’s have two billing methods 1) Global billing—which is used for insurance and 2) Cash payment. With a cash payment option they give you a cash pay discount for their medical services. Typically, the doctor’s office will charge you around $2000-$3000 dollars from conception to delivery. Next, you will need to contact the billing department for your hospital. Every hospital has a prepayment package for delivery services. Usually these packages range from $3000-$5000 dollars. As you can see this is a much more expensive option to experience on the front end, but you do save at the end. On average a normal pregnancy if you do not have insurance, use an advocacy group, or discount plan will cost you from $7500-$10,000 dollars—just for delivery!!!
As you can see there are options available for pregnant women. I wish they were as comprehensive as traditional health insurance with maternity care, but these programs do help save women a lot of money in their maternity expenses. I hope after reading this article you have a better understanding of what your choices are and are able to develop a road map of what to do next. But most of all, I hope that now you can rest a little easier at night because in a few short months you will have a lot of late nights with your new baby.
About the Author: Matt Irons, an Arizona independent health insurance broker, is dedicated to the well being of his clients, by providing peace of mind and helping them find quality Arizona health insurance at an affordable price. He cares by giving honest answers and advise to solve your health insurance needs. Visit him at www.ironsfamilyinsurance.com
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5 Powerful Ways To Save Money On Your Arizona Medical Insurance
April 5, 2009
There are affordable health plans in Arizona, you just need to know what they are how to find them, and know what to do to keep the cost down. Here are a 5 ways to save money on your health insurance:
1. Use an independent health insurance broker. An independent health insurance broker is someone who is dedicated to the customer, not employed by a specific company, but represents a variety of insurance carriers. The advantage of using a broker is that they can shop the best deals around without sacrificing benefits. Health brokers are a lot like a mortgage brokers who shop the banks for the best interest rates, saving you money.
2. Review your usage of your current Medical Insurance Plan In Arizona. In other words, see what benefits you are using and how often. For example, doctor’s office visits. How often are you going to the doctor each year? Most people only go to the doctor once or twice. A lot of times the plan they have include “unlimited” office visits with a co-pay. If you choose a plan that allows you to go with a “set” number of co-pay visits per year (like 4 or 5) you can save about 20% or more per month, saving you hundreds per year.
3. Increase your deductible. By increasing your deductible you are not changing the initial benefits of your Arizona Medical Plan. You still get your doctor’s office co-pays, your prescription card, and ER co-pays. The only time you use the deductible is for large claim situations like, going to the hospital for surgery, having an outpatient procedure, or costly tests.
4. Don’t Smoke, if you do QUIT!!! By being a non-smoker you are saving money already. For those of you that are smokers, you are adding to your premium a least another $30 dollars or more a month.
5. Remove the bells and whistles. This kind of goes back to the second tip, but goes a little further. If you hardly ever go to the doctor why even pay for that benefit each and every month. Just pay for the visit out-of-pocket when it happens. If you are using a doctor within your PPO network you will experience a reprised amount anyway. For example, generally an Arizona primary care doctor visit is about $80, when it gets reprised because of the PPO you will only pay about $55, generally speaking. These types of plans are usually called Catastrophic Plans. Another type of plan that is gaining in popularity is called the HSA Plan. These types of plans are saving people a lot of money each and every month and providing another way to save on their income taxes each year.
About Matt Irons and Irons Family Insurance: Matt Irons is dedicated to the well being of his clients, by providing peace of mind and helping them find quality Arizona health insurance at an affordable price. He cares by giving honest answers and advise to solve your health insurance needs.
Contact: Matt Irons
Email: matt@ironsfamilyinsurance.com
Phone: 602-573-4198
FAX: 623-691-8033
www.ironsfamilyinsurance.com
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Vital Information About Critical Illness Insurance
April 3, 2009
Critical illness life insurance is a special type of insurance policy that provides protection against very specific conditions: critical illness..
Should you bother with this type of policy, or should you just buy a more traditional type of life insurance policy? Let’s take a look at critical illness insurance so that you can get a grasp on how this works.
This type of insurance isn’t very common, but it is out there, and there are a few companies that offer excellent contracts. Additionally, certain conditions must be met before these types of policies will ever pay a claim
What is high risk critical illness life insurance?
This is a type of insurance policy that is meant to protect against specific types of illnesses or diseases.Critical illness insurance protects against certain kinds of diseases. Some of these would include cancer, Alzheimer’s Disease, MS, as well as a heart attack, cancer, stroke, or kidney failure – among others. Many times companies will specialize in the type of disease of illness that they will cover – i.e. they will offer a policy that covers cancer only, or Multiple Sclerosis only.
What’s the difference between critical illness insurance and a more traditional life insurance policy?
Obviously, the traditional life insurance policy pays when you die or at certain times during your life (i.e. after 20 years or at retirement), while the “CI” policy pays if you develop an illness or disease.
Who sells critical illness insurance?
There are some excellent “CI” companies, you just have to know where to look.
With that said, every company is different. No one company is going to be the best choice for everybody. Due to policy design and underwriting requirements, one company may be better for families than another, while another company may be good for senior citizens. Some companies may offer discounted rates for military personnel, or as is commonly done, discounts if you have multiple policies with the same company.
Be careful. You may think that all companies are the same. This could prove costly though. Companies will often have different pricing for different States, different underwriting requirements, and the company’s market share could affect how competitive the company can afford to be.
Taking your time and making sure that you are choosing the best company for you and your family will pay off in the long-term, even if the policy itself doesn’t pay off (which is a good thing for your health!). After all, you’ll be paying these premiums for many, many years. Wouldn’t you rather be getting the most bang for your buck as well as the best coverage for you and your family?
Remember, different States have different laws and so, the rates from those companies will vary.
Choosing between regular and specialized life insurance policies.
Critical illness insurance is not for everyone. If you want to provide some kind of assurance (financially) against a specific type of illness or illnesses, then you may want to consider looking into Insurance for critical illness.
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