Grad Students Lose Health Insurance

Last Friday (August 14), a number of graduate students at the University of Missouri found out they were losing their health insurance coverage—the very next day. According to news reports, the Affordable Care Act fines employers that offer subsidies so that staff members can buy their own insurance.

“We’re trying to comply with the interpretation of federal law,” Vice Chancellor for Graduate Studies, Leona Rubin, told the Columbia Daily Tribune. “We’re not trying to hurt” students, she said.

The discontinuation of the coverage only affects students employed by the university. The school is redirecting the $3.1 million it had been spending on these students’ insurance to a one-time fellowship. “This, I understand, is only a short-term ‘fix,’” Chancellor R. Bowen Loftin wrote in an apology to students for the short-term notice. The largest fellowship, offered to domestic students with a 20-hour assistantship appointment, is $1,240.

Students were troubled by the abrupt change, among them PhD student Jennifer McKinney Wilson, who was in labor at the time of her interview with Mid-Missouri Public Radio and without health insurance. “Being a graduate student has always been a little difficult and challenging. I mean, you have to make sacrifices to be here. Most of us took cuts in pay and things to come here. So up until today there were sacrifices, but they were doable. And now it doesn’t seem so doable.”

At the University of California, Berkeley, students were also upset by a recent decision to drop coverage for dependents in an effort to keep students’ insurance costs down, The Daily Californian reported in June. Students were also offered a one-time grant to help defray the costs of buying insurance for family members who would lose the benefit, but some complained that it came with strings attached, namely, waiving the right to sue over the lost coverage, the newspaper reported in July.

[Source: http://www.the-scientist.com/?articles.view/articleNo/43778/title/Grad-Students-Lose-Health-Insurance/]

How To Get Apt Health Insurance Plan Online

Our current lifestyle has made having a health insurance policy indispensable for everyone. Illnesses can strike anyone at anytime. Incidences of critical illness in younger age group are increasing rapidly. And along with this rising medical inflation may wipe out your savings and investment if you or your family member contracts some serious or critical illness.

There are array of health insurance products available in the market from family floater plan, individual plan, disease specific plan, top-up plan, world wide plan and travel insurance plan and choosing the best is a time consuming and exhausting task. However, policymantra.com can help to ease this daunting task. Experts at policymantra.com help you to choose the best health insurance plans according to your needs. It allows you to compare health insurance plans from across insurance companies.

There are several insurance companies offering health insurance plans, having different benefits, policymantra.com help to choose the best plan that suits your requirements. It not only compares insurance plans by just price but by also features.

And policymantra.com also helps you to choose the right insurance company having best customer service.

To provide best quality medical insurance   to your family, buying apt health insurance is the only way out. And buying health insurance has become very easy and simple with online platform. You can easily buy and renew health insurance plan online through policymantra.com in mere few clicks of mouse. Policy gets issued with instant confirmation. By providing basic details online, you can get insured without any complicated and lengthy paperwork.

Source from  : https://www.policymantra.com/blog/how-to-get-apt-health-insurance-plan-online/

Best health insurance provider in India

Sandeep, age 40, a father of 2 and the only bread-earner of his family suffered a severe heart attack recently. Following which he was hospitalised and given the required treatment. The expenses incurred towards his hospitalisation and entire treatment was huge, but thanks to his smart approach and planning he had covered himself under a health insurance policy which gave him good coverage and paid for the emergency medical expenses. His proactive planning and execution of buying best health insurance in india proved to be beneficial for him and his family, as it was the health insurance policy which beared the cost of the treatment and hospitalisation and he or his family did not have to bother with the finances for the same. 

Though buying a health insurance is a wise move, what is even wiser is choosing best health insurance provider in India. 

How to determine which health insurance policy is best for you and your family? “Best health insurance” is a very relative term. What is best for one may/may not be for other. Below are few tips that may help you in picking the best health insurance provider in India:

1. Calculate your health insurance sum insured after analysing your present and future liabilities: Taking example of Sandeep; as he was the sole earning member of his family, he had financial liability like education to his children, family’s everyday expenses, etc. In such a situation, the sum assured has to be high, only then Sandeep could have managed his daily expenses and children’s education without letting his savings impact. 

2. Look for authentic insurance provider: Health insurance policies are provided by both life insurance providers as well as general insurance providers. As experts recommend, a health insurance policy must be always bought from a general insurance companies because there is difference in premium and by a common belief a life insurance company is usually known to focus more on life policies rather than health insurance.

3. Do a comparative study of health policies/premiums offered by different health insurance providers: It is always recommended before you buy any health insurance policy from any health insurance provider in India, as a thumb rule compare the health policy benefits and premium amounts offered by  different general insurance companies. Also ensure to double-check the exclusion mentioned in the health insurance policy before buying same.

4. Check the track record of the general insurance company: Before finalizing the health insurance provider, find out about its claim settlement track record. You can find the same over internet reviews, from friends and family, etc. 

5. Check the list of network hospitals associated with the general insurance company: The health insurance companies generally have tie ups with certain hospitals in a locality. These hospitals are named as network hospitals in the policy and they provide cashless facility to individuals having health insurance with that specific company. Check if the hospitals mentioned in the health insurance policy are also in your locality or vice-versa. At the time of emergency, it is very important to have the hospital close to your home than in a separate corner of the city you reside in. 

Bajaj  General Insurance has over 4000 preferred hospitals in its network list. It provides one of the best health cover policies in India. Recently the company has been awarded with prestigious awards for being the best health insurance provider in India. Insure yours and your family’s health with Reliance General Insurance and stay assured of better care if the need arises.  

Source from : https://www.reliancegeneral.co.in/Insurance/Blogs/Health-Insurance/Best-health-insurance-provider-in-India.aspx

Buying The Right Medical Insurance is Easy Now

When you decide to buy an online health insurance policy India, you give a call to your insurance agent and he comes with bunch of forms and brochures. They explain various products ranging from the simplest to complex forms before switching on to specific coverage such as diabetes and surgery.

After flooding yourself with lots of information, you may wonder what coverage suits you the best. You may get confused. Choosing a mediclaim policy has never easy. But, IRDA introduced new guidelines for uniformity in basic policies and things improved.

As a result, insurance companies in India re-introduced their basic plans with some modifications. It becomes easy for buyers to select a simple plan and forced insurers to enhanced complex policies which benefit insured people.

Majority of people don’t know that there are two types of health insurance plans, benefit and indemnity. Indemnity plans such as family floater and individual policies pay hospital expenses. On the other hand, benefit policies like critical illness pay a lump sum amount in case a policyholder is diagnosed with a disease which he or she is insured for.

First always prefer a basic indemnity plan which covers hospitalization. These products reimburse doctor’s fees, room rent and other hospitalization costs. Then, you can look for specific plans like disease-specific and critical illness covers.

In terms of plans, there is a huge interest among buyers in benefits customized to certain requirements, in addition to the basic policy. Due to growing standard of living, people tend to purchase separate plans for ailments like kidney failure, cancer, diabetes, heart attack etc.

The hospital indemnity plan is the main part of any health insurance portfolio. Now, insurance companies in India also give plans which promote health and cover preventive care as well. Surgery-based online medical insurance policies are considered as benefit plans and act as back-up to the basic cover given the increasing cost of surgeries.

In fact, policyholders can access this coverage without disturbing their regular insurance plans. Buying mediclaim policies is not easy for those who are suffering from serious diseases. It is advisable to go for a basic plan if you have a healthy lifestyle because everything is almost insured after certain years of waiting periods

Source from : http://blog.policyboss.com/health-insurance/buying-right-health-insurance-easy-now/

Five Misconception of Health Insurance

Some people hesitate to purchase health insurance online because of some misconceptions. These myths create confusions over what to purchase and how to use such plans. But, recent budget session has declared various reforms related to mediclaim policies to improve insurance customers to select the best health insurance which would fit them. Below are some myths related to healthcare plans:

·         Myth 1

Those who have already been covered under employer’s group health plan, then they are not eligible to claim for another individual health insurance in order to avoid excessive premium rates as well as to reduce the financial burden. And, buying healthcare coverage at the time of retirement is very expensive.

·         Myth 2

Majority of people think that smokers and alcoholics might be exempted from seeking coverage for themselves. But, it is not true at all. Insurance companies in India offer mediclaim policies to such set of people only when they undergo a health checkup and qualify for the insurance benefits.

·         Myth 3

Some youngsters do feel that they don’t need health insurance because they are fit. But, you should understand that health hazards never come with prior notices. Due to increasing medical costs, buying online healthcare plans is necessary to manage finances.

·         Myths 4

Insurance comes into play only when policyholder gets hospitalized. This concept is completely wrong. There have been many improvements in the health industry due to adverse effect of technology. Today, health insurers provide coverage for such hospitalization and even for doctor consultation fees.

·         Myth 5

Sometimes, customers think that everything is covered when they buy a health insurance policy, but it is a misconception. Always provide correct details while filling up the application because in case you are found to mislead any detail, then application may get rejected. There are strict guidelines for claims which insured can make during the first six months.

Source from : http://blog.policyboss.com/health-insurance/five-misconception-health-insurance/

Best health insurance plans for you

How do you buy a health insurance plan? If you just settle with the plan your agent sells or are happy knowing you have bought the cheapest plan, there is a bit of unlearning and a lot of learning in store for you. A health insurance policy packs in several features and caveats. To give you a ready comparison, we designed Mint Mediclaim Ratings (MMR), which was developed by Secure Now Insurance Broker Pvt. Ltd. The full ratings along with the methodology can be seen here:.

In the ratings, for family floater plans, we have considered two sum insured amounts (Rs.10 lakh and Rs.20 lakh) and three age categories in each—eldest insured member is 35, 45 or 65 years old. For individual plans, the age categories are the same but the sum assured is Rs.5 lakh.

The newest edition of the ratings (January 2015) has a new category of individual plans of Rs.10 lakh for senior citizens aged 70 years.

This week, we spotlight policies for individuals with sum assured of Rs.5 lakh. We also explain some of the important aspects that one should look at while choosing a policy.

Let’s look at no-claim bonus. Health insurance plans are usually annual contracts that you renew every year. Each year you can make a claim on your policy up till the sum insured. The insurer would prefer if you didn’t make a claim and, therefore, would reward a no-claim year by, usually, increasing your sum insured for free. Keep in mind that an increase in sum insured does not alter any other features of the policy. So, if there is co-pay or sub-limits in the policy, the same would apply even on the increased sum insured.

Insurers, typically, increase the sum insured by 5% every year up to a maximum of 50%, but if

you make a claim, it could proportionately decrease the extra sum insured. But the base sum

assured doesn’t get reduced. No-claim bonus is nice to have as it could also serve as a cushion against inflation. But given that medical inflation is over 10%, an increase of 5% may not be sufficient. In MMR, no-claim bonus has been assigned a weightage of 7.5%.

Source from : http://www.livemint.com/Money/Luj1sMRpBTvZrJ5PovwqnK/Best-health-insurance-policies-for-you.html

Where there is Insurance there is an assurance for quality life

Who doesn’t know the importance of health insurance? Insurance covers are balanced and secured solutions for those unpredictable moments which can strike like a lightening in your happy environment of life.  It’s like a second parenthood that you receive in life that assures you for taking care of your illness and offer full support and medical treatment on a pay scale based on coverage.

Health insurance plays a vital role for your family, especially when it comes to take utmost care of your children. Children always need those "well-child visits" to prevent them from any ailing illnesses through proper vaccinations and getting immunized as recommended and at various stages of life. Without insurance you will always find difficulty in giving the care they deserve. Result is illness keeps occurring and cost towards the treatment keeps rising.

There are millions of people in India who are still not covered by their employer or self-employed who cannot afford the hefty medical expenses, diagnostic costs and complex hospital treatments. The conditions worsen if you’re not covered with suitable insurance coverage. By not having a proper insurance you receive less medical care and less timely care and these seem to be the people that experience the worse health problems. It is advisable that every person should posses some kind of suitable health insurance policy based on the needs and requirements and most importantly fits into your budget. Although insurance can be expensive it can cause a bigger burden not having insurance when serious injuries occur.

Investing in health insurance means investing for better quality of life. Having insurance can pay for preventive treatments to treating illnesses. Government sponsored health insurance are a great initiative by government of India for the poor and middle class section of the society. However, government assisted insurance while it may cover a great deal of the medical expenses does not cover the extensive and customized medical treatments based on your age, lifestyle, nature of work and health disorders. This can be often frustrating as extensive and customized medical treatments play an important part of recovering from major health issues. 

While there are many views on the "importance of health insurance" there is still the notion that coverage in some form or fashion is extremely important. In our day-to-day we come across many incidents prone dangerous for our health such as you’re over exasperated lifestyle, children in school, working dangerous jobs, construction work, etc. where you want to have some form of insurance because at anytime something can go wrong. Besides, accident can still happen at the blink of an eye so it is very important to be covered or you will find that the burden will only grow deeper and deeper when it is time to pay back for the care received the dent in your pocket seem to be bigger and bigger.

Do adequate research, figure out what is best for you and your family and make wise decisions. Nothing stays the same forever so if you have good health now that does not mean something will not go wrong or if you’re facing ailing health issues today it doesn’t mean you won’t recover at all. Preventive care helps and it may prolong the need for insurance but there is nothing better than knowing you are fully protected.

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