Posted on Thursday, January 15, 2015

How Much Does Insurance Cost?

Since everyone is now required to have health insurance, the question on everyone’s mind is, “How Much Does it Cost?” Well, it depends…. Not a very satisfying answer for sure.

Why does insurance costs vary? Costs are determined by your current health, age and income. If you are young and healthy, you will pay less than someone who is middle aged and has some health issues.

Premium v. Out of Pocket Costs: It is important to not only look at the cost of the insurance premiums each month but also the over all costs of care. You might think that a $250/month premium is very expensive. After all, that is $3,000/per year. However, if you get sick or break a bone, your out of pocket costs for not having insurance could exceed the $3,000 cost with one hospital visit.

You Can Now Compare Prices: One of the good things about ObamaCare is that for the first time you can compare the costs of the various health insurance that is being offered. Prior to the health exchanges, there was no real way to know what the insurance plans cost and what was included. You needed to be a Ph.D. in healthcare in order to compare the various plans. Now, all the plans have to include the same basic services and the prices for the various plans are listed on the health exchange.

We have a long way to go to fixing healthcare but being able to compare prices is a good start.

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To help you make sense of ObamaCare, check out HealthSpin’s Easy Healthcare: ObamaCare.

We hope this post helps you Spin Your Healthcare Your Way!

Posted on Tuesday, January 13, 2015

ObamaCare Penalties: Consider Your Options: VIDEO

The idea behind ObamaCare is that everyone should have health insurance. If you do not have health insurance, there are some penalities you will have to pay. In this video, healthcare expert, Lori-Ann Rickard, discusses ObamaCare penalties and various options you may want to consider if you find that your premiums are too expensive at this time.

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If you’re young and healthy, you may believe that you’re better off to pay a penalty and not have insurance. You want to remember that even a fairly minor health problem such as a broken bone or having your appendix taken out can cost a lot of money which you had not planned on spending. Having insurance can protect you from that sudden financial crisis.

To help you make sense of your insurance options, HealthSpin is preparing Easy Healthcare: Choosing an Insurance Plan. COMING SOON!!!

We hope this post helps you Spin Your Healthcare Your Way!

Posted on Thursday, January 8, 2015

Are We Healthier With ObamaCare?

Many people disagree over the positives and negatives of ObamaCare.

But it is important to know some basic facts:

We are healthier under ObamaCare.

“Hospitals prevented nearly 15,000 deaths and 560,000 injuries by reducing additional illnesses and infections acquired in the hospital, preliminary data from the Health and Human Services. That would mean upward of $4 billion in overall health-spending savings between 2010 and 2012.

This decrease is partly due to the government’s program which penalizes hospitals for readmissions within 30 days of a hospital stay for the same problem. The decrease is also due to the increase in reimbursement to hospitals for better quality under ObamaCare. 2,225 hospitals were hit with penalties for readmissions in 2013. Article.

This data shows that if healthcare providers are rewarded for making patients healthy – patients get healthier.

In the past, payment for health services was based on “fee for service.” Thus, each time a patient gets a service, the healthcare provider gets paid. There is no incentive to get the patient healthy.

The new model for payment rewards hospitals for making patients better and they will get paid more. This doesn’t always work, but we are making progress.

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Are you looking to cut through all the noise and find out what ObamaCare really is, what it does, and, most importantly, what it means to you? HealthSpin’s “Easy Healthcare: ObamaCare” ebook guide leaves the politics behind and gives you a straightforward, timely rundown of the changes the law made and whether or not they impact YOU.

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