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Trying to figure out health insurance? Get my book Choose Your Best Health Insurance for detailed assistance on how to decide which insurance plan is right for you and your family.

The post Why You Should Choose One Doctor to Manage Your Health Care appeared first on MyHealthSpin.

Then one of my daughters was born with a life-threatening condition. Later, their father and I decided to divorce and I began to care for the children on my own. At that point, I had some hard decisions to make, one of which was how to make sure I was properly insured for my daughter’s health needs.

This is how life is. You often must make tough choices when you are least prepared. Here is what I did.

First, I recognized the importance of health insurance. My daughter was in and out of the hospital a lot. As a single mom, there was no way for me to pay for all of our medical bills or for the supplies we needed.

After reviewing my employer’s health insurance, I changed jobs so that we could have better health coverage. I was lucky to get a job at the hospital where many of my daughter’s doctors were located. Now there is the option of signing up for healthcare under the Affordable Care Act, but at the time, the only way for me to change health insurance was to change jobs.

At that time, I also had to take the risk that my new employer would refuse to pay for my daughter’s care because her condition might be considered pre-existing. Under the Affordable Care Act, you can change jobs and your new employer can’t refuse to cover care due to pre-existing conditions.

Next, I made sure that the doctors and hospitals taking care of my daughter participated in my new insurance plan. It was very important to me that she continue to receive the expert care that she needed with the providers who were already familiar with her case. By making sure those doctors and hospitals participated in my plan, I avoided overwhelming medical bills.

When I first started looking at new insurance plans, I was tempted to just look at the monthly premium cost. I was single mom with a new job, and that monthly cost represented a huge chunk of my paycheck. But my first priority was to keep my daughter’s doctors who had taken such good care of her. If I had gone with a cheaper insurance, I would have had to  to pick new doctors or pay huge bills because those doctors weren’t part of my health plan. By saving $100 a month, I might have been signing up for $1,000s in uncovered expenses.

I’m happy to report that we received amazing care, and both of my daughters are healthy and grown. It was a tough time, but we made it through with great insurance and didn’t get saddled with a ton of medical bills.

When you have tough choices, it can be overwhelming. I know, I’ve been there. But with the right information, you can be have the peace of mind that you’ve made the right decisions for you and your family.

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Trying to figure out health insurance? Get my book Choose Your Best Health Insurance for detailed assistance on how to decide which insurance plan is right for you and your family.

The post How to Choose Health Insurance as a Single Parent appeared first on MyHealthSpin.

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Trying to figure out health insurance? Get my book Choose Your Best Health Insurance for detailed assistance on how to decide which insurance plan is right for you and your family.

The post How to Get Your Medical Records appeared first on MyHealthSpin.

If you want to learn more about creating your Medical Life List, watch my previous video. In this part 2 video, I talk about the importance of keeping this information available at all times.

Ready to start your own Medical Life List? Download your own Medical Life List template in my free toolkit.

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Confused about health insurance? Get my new book Choose Your Best Health Insurance for detailed assistance on how to decide which insurance plan is right for you and your family.

The post Keep Your Medical Life List Handy appeared first on MyHealthSpin.

The key is to put your documents together before you need them. When you or a loved one needs medical attention, you may not have the time or the resources to gather health information. So, it’s important that, before an emergency, you have a Medical Life List on hand for you and for each of your loved ones. In a nutshell, your Medical Life List is your own personal medical record created by you and updated by you. In this video, I help you get started.

After you watch the video, you can download your own Medical Life List template in my free toolkit.

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Confused about health insurance? Get my new book Choose Your Best Health Insurance for detailed assistance on how to decide which insurance plan is right for you and your family.

The post Keep Your Own Medical Records appeared first on MyHealthSpin.

Here are a few tips to help get the information you need to be able to best assist your loved one:

1. Your parent or loved one is in charge.
They have the right to designate who they want to have access to their medical records. If that person is not you, be respectful of their decision.

2. Have your loved one fill out the right form.
When the patient goes into the hospital or doctor’s office, they should specifically ask to fill out a form that says who can get access to their health records.

3. Ask your loved one if they want you present during the medical visit.
A doctor is allowed to give information to a spouse or family member if he or she is present during a doctor’s visit or a hospital stay. If the senior has a family member come with them to the doctor, the doctor can assume that the senior wants the family member to have access to the senior’s medical information unless the senior states otherwise.

4. Have your loved one complete a living will.
A living will is a legal document that states who may make decisions about the patient’s healthcare in the event they are unable to make decisions themselves. It is really important for everyone to have a living will – even you!

With a little extra attention and planning, you will be able to help your parent or loved one with their medical care.

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Confused about health insurance? Get my new book Choose Your Best Health Insurance for detailed assistance on how to decide which insurance plan is right for you and your family.

The post How to Get Access to Your Parents’ Health Records appeared first on MyHealthSpin.

Urgent care facilities have become common. Most people live within close proximity to one or more. These facilities can be handy for quick-fix issues that need speedy attention, but don’t require an emergency room. Urgent care often is open after hours and on weekends, making it a convenient option for busy people. In addition, they are often less expensive than a visit to the emergency room.

Despite all of this, depending on your reason for visiting, urgent care may not be your best choice. Here’s why:

1. Lack of medical history
Your family physician or pediatrician knows you and your children best. They have records of all of your previous visits and are familiar with your medical history. The urgent care facility will not have this same understanding of your background. They will be able to assess your current illness or ailment, but will not have your full medical history to add context to the situation.

2. Possible drug interaction issues
You always want to be careful about drug interactions between anything you are taking now and whatever the urgent care physician prescribes. Because that physician does not have your full medical history, they also may not know what you are currently taking or what you have had experience with – good or bad – in the past. If you do go to urgent care, make sure you tell them everything about medications you are taking now, allergies, or adverse effects you have experienced in the past. Then check with your pharmacist and your family physician to make sure the any medication prescribed by the urgent care physician is safe for you to take.

3. Difficulty following up
When you visit urgent care, you may have trouble following up with the physician you saw. Sometimes the staff you saw at night is not available during the day, or they may hold a position with another medical facility during other hours. Often, the urgent care physician will tell you during your visit to schedule a follow-up appointment with your own family physician. This is always a good idea and will give you the opportunity to address any questions or concerns you had after your urgent care facility, as well as allow your family physician to update your medical history.

Want to avoid unnecessary grief and expense when you get sick? Then you need this essential guide to the business behind your healthcare decisions. MyHealthSpin’s “Easy Healthcare: Before You Get Sick” ebook guide gives you all of the practical advice you need to take charge of your healthcare options!

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The post Why Urgent Care May Not Be Your Best Choice appeared first on MyHealthSpin.

Just what is a Do Not Resuscitate, or DNR, order? A DNR expresses, in a legal format, your wishes not to have lifesaving measures performed should the need arise. This document provides clear direction for your hospital, assisted living facility or nursing home.

Upon admittance to a health facility, you may be asked about your wishes should an event arise where you are unable to answer in the moment. For example, if you stop breathing, have a heart issue, a stroke or any other condition that may put you in a position for life-saving measures, do you want the hospital to do everything possible to keep you alive?

There is no right answer. You may decide you want life-saving measures, or you may decide you don’t want them. When my parents were nearing the end of their lives, they made the decision that they had lived full lives and if they were to stop breathing, they wanted to be left to die. The point is that you should make this decision at a time when you are able to avoid the decision being made for you.

Although DNR is a common term, you may hear some hospitals refer to this as “no code,” which means they won’t call for help to revive you if you stop breathing or are unconscious. The hospital may also refer to “allowing a natural death,” which means the same thing.

If you haven’t already, discuss your Do Not Resuscitate wishes with your doctor, hospital or healthcare facility. They will let you know how to proceed with the proper paperwork.

Source: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/do-not-resuscitate-dnr-tattoo-leaves-doctors-debating-whether-to-save-his-life/

Do you want to learn more about navigating the health care system? Pick up my book Your Hospital Stay in which you can learn about the other documents you should have in place.

The post About Do Not Resuscitate Orders appeared first on MyHealthSpin.

Last month was Health Literacy Month, but at MyHealthSpin, my goal is to spread health literacy all year long by giving you the information you need to make the best, most informed decisions when it comes to your health and healthcare. Here are a few ways you can improve your health literacy in order to play a more active role in your health.

Listen
Being at the doctor can be overwhelming, especially if you’re facing scary news about your health. But, make sure you listen to everything the doctor has to say. Bring a pen and a pad of paper to write down everything. Or have a family member come with you to serve as a second pair of ears. That way you can remember what your doctor said after you return home.

Do your research
This doesn’t mean research your symptoms and self-diagnose. This means to do your research once you have seen a licensed healthcare professional. For example, if your doctor tells you you have high blood pressure, research what you can do to maintain it. It’s important to know everything you can about your health. 

Ask questions
Be sure you ask your doctor questions. Doctors are busy but they can still answer your questions. The more you know the more proactive you will be able to be when it comes to your health. 

Teach
Teach others the things you learn about health and healthcare. Not only does it reinforce it but it helps others to gain knowledge. 

To learn more about healthcare pick up my ebooks in Easy Healthcare: Set 3. This set includes three books to help you navigate your health care: Before You Get Sick, Your Hospital Stay, and free bonus What You Need First.

The post How To Improve Your Health Literacy appeared first on MyHealthSpin.

Insurance plans often have preferred doctors and may refer to that list of physicians as in network. There may be a separate list of physicians that are out of network. Some health plans may refer to these levels with different terminology like Tier 1 and Tier 2. Whatever language is used, it’s important to pay attention to these lists, because the difference could impact your wallet.

In network or preferred doctors are those that have accepted arrangements with your particular health insurance to be reimbursed for payment. These doctors generally have low, or sometimes no, copay and usually all or most of the work by that physician will be covered by your insurance.

Out-of-network doctors do not have these same benefits. Be sure to carefully read what is covered for visits with out-of-network physicians. These visits may have higher copays, higher deductibles, and you may receive a bill for some or all of the costs. For example, a visit to an in-network primary care physician may have a $15 copay and the rest of the visit cost may be fully covered by insurance, meaning you don’t have to pay anything further. The same visit to an out-of-network primary care physician may have a $30 copay, and the insurance plan may only cover 80% of the cost of the visit, meaning you will get a bill for the other 20%. Out-of-network costs can really add up over time.

So, how do you know if your favored doctor is in network? There are several ways you can find out. A good place to start is the health plan’s website. Most health plans have a “find a doctor” search tool. Search for your doctor there and see if they show up as in network (or preferred or Tier 1) or out of network.

You can also call your doctor’s office directly and ask if your doctor participates in the health plan. They will be able to tell you if the doctor and facility are fully or partially covered.

Once you have your answer, you’ll be able to make a decision about which insurance plan is right for you.

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