Ohio Health Insurance

Travel Insurance

You are starting to plan that family vacation to Greece that you have all been dreaming of for the past five years.  Everything seems to be going great and you feel like you have kept on track with everything that needs to be done. The mail is going to be held when you are away, the neighbors are keeping an eye on the house and feeding the dog, everyone’s passports will arrive any day in the mail, everything is almost done. Then you randomly run into a friend in the grocery store and he starts to tell you about his trip to Spain, and how grateful he was that they had purchased international travel insurance for their trip. You start to research it so that you know what it covers and what it does not.  Travel insurance covers:

1. Cancellations: It’s hard to think about your dream vacation to Greece being cancelled, but things come up unexpectedly, and if cancellations are covered you will still be able to plan your vacation for another time. There are two types of cancellations: Trip Cancellation Coverage and Trip Interruption Coverage. If you have travel insurance than you will be reimbursed for pre-paid, non-refundable expenses if your trip has to be cancelled. All of these situations are covered as well:

•    “Sickness, injury, or death of you, a family member, or a traveling companion.
•    Hurricane damaging your destination or cancels your flight.
•    If you are laid off from work or required to work.
•    Terrorist incident in your destination city.
•    Bankruptcy of your travel supplier
•    Called for jury duty”

Trip Interruption covers you if you were to cancel your trip in the middle of it for any of the reasons listed above. You may also be able to be reimbursed for any last minute flights needed to return home.

2. Medical Emergencies: It is very important to know that most insurance companies do not cover you once you leave the country. Since this is the case, it is very important that you have travel medical insurance, which will cover you for emergency medical and dental care.

3. Evacuations:  Travel insurance will cover you if you have to be evacuated out of the country for a medical emergency or if a war starts within the country you are visiting. Without insurance you may end up paying $45,000 out of pocket just for the airlift to the hospital.

4. Loss or delays while traveling: Insurance will cover baggage coverage, baggage delay coverage, and travel delay coverage. With this coverage you will be reimbursed for your personal belongings and receive money to buy essentials. It would also provide you with either a meal or a night in a hotel if your flight is delayed.

5. Phone assistance 24/7 worldwide: If you are overseas in a country that does not speak the same language, you will find phone assistance extremely important. By purchasing travel insurance you are giving yourself the option to call a “lifeline” if ever needed when traveling. The lifeline will help you:

•    “Locate the nearest adequate hospital if needed
•    Organize medical transportation
•    Arrange for treatment and overcome any language barriers
•    Organize transportation home
•    Replace prescriptions in an emergency
•    Lost baggage search; stolen luggage replacement assistance
•    Lost passport/travel documents assistance
•    Travel information including visa/passport requirements
•    Emergency telephone interpretation assistance.”

After researching all these details about travel insurance, you will probably realize that it is essential to have it for your vacation to Greece. Just as a friend told you about the insurance, continue to spread the word so that people are not left in the unfortunate situation of having to pay out of pocket for anything that goes wrong on their trip. Travel insurance is as essential for traveling as it is for medical purposes, and car accidents, here in the States. Have a safe trip!

Travel Insurance

Think about the time you go to the doctor’s office or sign any legal document. Set right before you is a pile of papers you are told to sign and date. Some people brush over the contents of the page, but are honestly so overwhelmed by all the papers that they do not thoroughly read through the details on the page. Others know the dangers of not knowing what they are signing and read each line very carefully, to make sure that they understand what they are signing for and what the consequences are if they do not uphold or keep their side of the agreement.

Purchasing travel insurance can be similar, in that there will be small print and lots of words on the documents you have to sign. Do not let this hinder you in anyway from getting the much-needed insurance, or you may find yourself wasting a lot of money on trip cancelations and foreign medical bills. In order to avoid being caught off guard because you signed something you didn’t know you were signing, read the fine print and avoid these five loopholes with travel insurance:

1. “Not a covered reason for cancellation”: make sure you understand when a cancelled trip would be covered and when it would not. A trip would be covered for “sickness, injury, or death of you, a family member, or a traveling companion, hurricane damages your destination or cancels your flight, laid off from work or required to work, terrorist incident in your destination city, bankruptcy of your travel supplier, or if you are called for jury duty”. All reasons for covered cancellations are on a Policy Certificate. Make sure you know what this is and have read it carefully. If your reason is not on this list then you will NOT be covered. There is one way to make sure that you are covered regardless of the reason for cancelation and that is to get the “cancel for any reason” option, which you can add to any plan.

2. “Pre-Existing Conditions”: travel insurance will not cover pre-existing conditions because there is a much higher risk that they will be paying extremely high medical bills for you when you travel in another country. The only way to get insurance companies to cover you once it has already been determined that you have a condition, is to get a waiver for the condition. Insurance companies guidelines for this include: “1. You need to buy insurance soon after your first trip payment, 2. You need to be healthy when you buy insurance, and 3. You need to insure the full amount of your trip”.

3. “Covered Exclusions”: There are some very specific reasons why you would not be covered under any circumstance. Here are a few examples: “self inflicted injury, driving in a motor competition, bungee cord jumping, or any criminal acts committed by you”. These exclusions are also listed in the Policy Certificate for your convenience.

4. “Incomplete Documentation”: the appropriate paperwork must be given to the insurance company in order to be reimbursed for any injury on the trip or cancellation of a trip. Make sure you obtain any important paperwork throughout your trip, including any bills you may receive. By doing this you will be able to supply the insurance company with all the proper documentation as quickly as possible when needed.

5. Enrolling Too Late: To put it simply, you cannot purchase insurance to travel to a country that is about to break out in war. You cannot obtain insurance when something has already been predicted to happen. In order to avoid trying to get travel insurance when it is already to late, get insurance as soon as you know the trip is definitely happening.

As time consuming as it may be, read the small print before you sign for any travel insurance. By doing this you ensure that you and your family are going to have a safe trip and will not be surprised if something is not covered. Never hesitate to ask your insurance company if you have any questions or are unsure if something is going to be covered or not. Enjoy your trip!

Travel Insurance

Travel insurance is an essential for traveling, whether you are going on a family vacation or a business trip. When starting to look into Travel Insurance you may be a little lost and a little overwhelmed by all the choices. Though it may seem like there is a lot that goes into it, it can be quite simple if it is laid out for you. There are two types of Travel Insurance: Vacation Plans and Travel Medical Plans.

Vacation plans, as you probably know, is a great plan for those going on a vacation. You may also know them as: “Package Plans, Travel Insurance, Trip Cancellation Insurance, or Trip Insurance.” What very few people realize is that “over 95% of travel insurance sales are Vacation Plans”. A Vacation Plan is an incredible way to be covered especially if you run into any unforeseen situations. Vacation Plans cover: “canceled trips, interrupted trips, medical emergencies, emergency evacuation, delayed baggage or trips, lost baggage, and 24/7 assistance,” along with other types of coverage as well.” The second type of insurance is the Travel Medical Plan.

The Travel Medical Plan will cover you when you are on a trip out of your homeland, but will not cover cancellations like the Vacation Plan does. One thing that can be overlooked when traveling is considering if your health insurance plan, which you have in your country, will cover you once you leave your country. In some situations, you might be covered, but this is very rare. Make sure that you check with your health insurance company before purchasing a Travel Medical plan so you do not have two types of insurance that cover the same thing.  The travel medical plan will cover two things, which would otherwise be very expensive for you to pay out of pocket. It will cover: “medical expenses, and emergency evacuation”.  It is crucial to have this kind of coverage or you will possibly end up paying tens of thousands of dollars to cover your medical expenses in the destination country.

In addition to the vacation plan and the travel medical insurance plan, there are special plans that cover specific situations. You can purchase: Evacuation Plans, Travel Accident Plans, and Rental Car Plans. Evacuation plans are for medical emergencies and cover your transportation to the best hospital facility. Accident plans are primarily for injuries that result in dismemberment or loss of life. Rental car plans cover you for accidents you may have while driving a rental car. The most important thing is that you purchase either a vacation plan or travel medical insurance plan when going on a trip. Any of the three additional plans would be great to look at once you know the type of traveling you will be doing and the situations that you may run into.

Travel Insurance

When getting ready to go on a trip it is smart to start asking questions about the travelers insurance you have and how it will affect you and your family. By doing this, you will be completely prepared to go on your trip and know exactly what will and will not be covered. Because people travel frequently, there are some questions about travel insurance that get asked more often than others. I would like to inform you of the top ten questions that every traveler asks and what the answers are.

1. “Doesn’t my credit card have travel insurance?”: Although we all would wish the answer to this would be yes; unfortunately no, your credit card does not have travel insurance. If it does provide even a little bit of travel insurance, it is not going to cover you in the areas of “medical expense or evacuation coverage”.

2. “Won’t my regular health insurance cover me abroad?”: Although some health insurance companies may cover some things, while you are traveling abroad, a majority of your medical expenses will not be covered. And your major medical expense if something happened would be your evacuation which no regular health insurance company will cover.

3. “Will my cruise line refund me?”: The way that most cruise companies work is that they usually refund you up to about two weeks before you leave for the trip. Unfortunately though they will not be giving you back a full refund no matter when you cancel, and once you are only two weeks away you will receive no money back if you cancel.

4. “Are hurricanes covered?”: When purchasing your travel insurance make sure hurricanes are listed on the insurance companies “covered reason for cancellation”. A lot of times if a hurricane is already expected to take place somewhere you will not be able to buy travel insurance if you are traveling to that location.

5. “Are pre-existing conditions covered?”: To many people’s surprise, pre-existing conditions can be covered. Usually for a pre-existing condition to be covered though you have to have a waiver stating you do not have that condition any more. You must follow these guidelines: “1. Buy your plan soon after you first trip payment, 2. Insure for the full trip cost, 3. Be medically cleared for travel at the time of purchase”.

6. “What does travel insurance cost?”: The cost of travel insurance can vary a lot depending on the type of coverage you are looking for, and how many people you will be covering with the plan. One easy way to look at it though for figuring out how much your travel insurance will cost personally, is to figure it will cost about “4-8% of the trip cost”.

7. “When should I purchase my plan?”: As soon as you know that you are taking a trip and especially once you have already started putting money down for the trip, you should be purchasing travel insurance and medical evacuation insurance.

8. “How do I know I can trust the company?”: That is a great question! Make sure you do research before purchasing the insurance through the company. See how many years of experience the company has. Do they have many complaints? If they do have complaints what are they about? By doing your research and talking to others about the experiences they have had with travel insurance companies, you will begin to narrow down your search and purchase through the company you feel most comfortable with.

9. “What is the refund policy?”: Although it may cost just a very small fee “a 100% refund of premium within the Free Look Period is guaranteed by all companies”.

10. “How do I buy travel insurance?”: Buying travel insurance is quite easy and can be purchased in just a short amount of time online. After you decide which company you would like to work with, purchase a policy. Call an independent agent to make sure you are getting exactly what you want.

These ten answers should put you in a great spot to order travel insurance, since all of your main questions have been answered. Once you know which insurance company you will be working with, do not hesitate to call an agent with any more questions that you may have. By doing this you will be able to be very confident with your purchase, and be ready to have an enjoyable stress-free trip.

Travel Insurance

Congratulations, if you are interested in what to do after you have purchased travel insurance, than you must have already looked into the different travel insurance companies and purchased a plan. It is a great feeling isn’t it? Knowing that you are going on this family vacation or business trip completely insured? If anything happens you will know if you are insured for it or not, and have a travel insurance company that you can be in contact with 24/7 with any questions. So what do you do now that you have purchased your plan?

1. “Print your confirmation email”: To print off your confirmation email may seem like such an easy step. But you would not want to be caught without a hard copy of it. Proof of your purchase is a necessity, because all of your emergency contact information is listed on it. Carry this with you, wherever you are traveling.

2. “Review your policy certificate to verify your coverage”: Every travel insurance company has what they call a ‘policy certificate’. Listed on the policy certificate are all the things you will be covered for on your trip. To make sure you are completely satisfied with the plan you choose and the coverage it gives, insurance companies offer a “Free Look Period”. During a free look period, customers have a chance to look at their plans and make sure that everything is included that they would like. During this period, you can also return your plan and receive a full refund.

3. “Read the Exclusions Section”: By looking over your policy certificate as is highly suggested in point two, you will see a section called the “Exclusion Section”. You must read the Exclusion Section! If you fail to read this, you may very easily think that something is covered that is not. This can be avoided if you may sure you carefully read the exclusion section.

4. “Contact your insurance company immediately with any claims questions”: If you start to question even the smallest thing about your trip, call the travel insurance company. They have 24/7 services specifically for you and to answer ANY question, regardless of how insignificant it may seem to you. If you are paying for their services, use them.

You are probably very close to your trip at this point, and do not want to have any doubts about the travel insurance you have. Be attentive to each of these four steps listed and you will be prepared and ready for a great trip.

Travel Insurance

Sometimes when preparing for a vacation or business trip we don’t want to think about the things that could happen when we are on our trip. We want to live in the fantasy that everything is going to be fine, and hopefully, it will be. Many know though that sometimes there are situations that arise that have to be dealt with, and if you do not have travelers insurance you are at risk for possibly having to spend a lot of money. I am going to inform you of seven risks you take when traveling without travelers insurance. Please do not let these risks scare you into not traveling, but just be aware of them when you do. Here are the seven risks:

1. First is the risk is someone getting sick. If someone gets sick you may not be able to go on that trip that you have been planning. Without travel insurance, that covers you when you have to cancel your trip, you may find that you have just lost thousands of dollars because of sickness in the family.

2. Second is the risk of something happening to the place you are booked to stay on your vacation. This may be because of hurricane, tornado, fire etc. but either way the money you have already put down to stay there has now been lost.

3. Third, a situation that could arise, although we hope not, is a family emergency. Say your mom was in a car accident and they do not know if she is going to make it. You may have to leave your trip early and buy a plane ticket home. This will cost you a lot of money unless you have insurance that covers trip cancellations.

4. Fourth, another unexpected situation that could take place is someone on the trip slipping and hurting themselves, which requires them to go to a foreign hospital. One thing that you must know before traveling is that most health insurance companies do not usually cover you if something happens while you are out of the country. This means that if you do not have travelers insurance you will be expected to pay the entire medical bill out of pocket.

5. Fifth, an unexpected incident would be if you would have to be airlifted for any unexpected injury. In some cases an emergency helicopter airlift can be over $45,000.

6. Sixth, one thing that can be overlooked while traveling is how confusing and time-consuming things will be if you get hurt overseas or lose your passport. Everything becomes more complex if you do not speak the language. If you have travelers insurance though, you will have a toll free number you can call at anytime that will walk you through the steps you need to take for the situation that you are in.

7. The seventh thing that may be overlooked by some before traveling is the possibility of loosing your luggage. With travelers insurance they will reimburse you for things that are lost and help you replace the items inside.

As you can see it is quite simple as to why you need travel insurance when traveling, whether it is for a short or long-term trip. It will save you and your family a lot of money and a lot of stress. Start today to search for the best travel insurance for you and your family.

Ohio Health Insurance

Since 2011 health insurance has been drastically changing. One thing that will be changing in 2014 in Ohio are the options for buying health insurance.  The new option will be, “buying through an exchange”. Buying through an exchange is going to be an option for those buying coverage on their own or for small companies purchasing insurance for their employees.

A change you will see when looking at exchange plans is that the aim will be for consumers to start looking at the price of the plans, and not as much at the benefits. It will still be important though for consumers to know what benefits their plan includes.  An interesting thing about the exchange program is that the premium for the plans will no longer be based on the health conditions of the person purchasing the plan, but instead on their age, location and number of people on the plan. Because the premium will no longer be based on health condition, people will have a broader selection of plans they can choose from, with different premiums and different benefits. The plans offered will have to include at least the “essential health benefits”.

“One issue raised with the exchange plan is there being a potential problem with ‘risk selection’. The concern being that the sicker-than-average person could end up in the exchange. The solution to this would be to require that any insurance sold outside the exchange would have to comply with similar rules being used inside the exchange. This would include guaranteed availability of coverage and limits on the extent to which premiums can vary by health status.”

There are a few differences that should be looked at, between the health insurance Ohio plans today and those that will be available through the exchange. First, the people the state has deemed eligible will sell both plans, but the exchange plans will only be available for certain people. Second, with the new exchange plans some people will be able to receive subsidies for earning 133%-400% of the federal poverty level. You cannot receive that with plans today. These are all changes to look out for as we near the year 2014. It will be very helpful as well to have a great understanding of how the changes affect you, your family, or your business.

It is not too early to lock in an Ohio health insurance plan through an experienced independent Ohio based agency. By doing this, you may be able to avoid a government run health plan, which may be the best solution for you. This will probably be a lot less expensive with greater access choices and ad control for you, your family or small business.

Anthem Preventive Care

Why do we have health insurance? In Ohio, we have health insurance so that if we get sick or have a medical emergency and need to go to the hospital/doctors, we do not need to pay the fees right out of pocket. Would you believe me if I told you that you could limit how much you go to the doctors, not all the way, but at least limit it some? You can! It begins with changing your lifestyle. You can make a choice today to live a healthy lifestyle and by doing so you are decreasing your chances of having to go to the hospital for more serious conditions. A simple way to start is to begin implementing fruits, vegetables, and meats into you diet and taking out unnecessary amounts of pasta, desserts and soda. Also, develop a routine plan for exercise. Schedules can be very busy with families, work and school, but even walking 20 minutes a day, 3 days a week will prove to be very helpful.

In addition to living a healthy lifestyle, research the company you are considering purchasing health insurance through and see if they have preventive care services. Do you live in Columbus, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Dayton, or Toledo Ohio? If you do, then when you purchase health insurance with Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield, they cover preventive care services such as screenings, immunizations, and exams 100%. By doing this, they reduce the risk of you getting really sick in the future because the precautionary measures are being taken care of right in the beginning. Some people might get a little confused between if the care they are being given is preventive or diagnostic care.

Preventive care is care that the doctors do to prevent something from happening to you in the future. For example, if you are given an immunization for varicella (chicken pox) the doctors are doing this to prevent you from getting chicken pox in the future.

Diagnostic care on the other hand is done when doctors have already detected that you have symptoms of something and they are now looking to diagnose what is causing those symptoms.

Below you will find the lists of both Child Preventive Care and Adult Preventive Care that you can use as guidelines for yourself:

Child Preventive Care (Birth to 18 years)

Preventive physical exams

Screening tests include:
•    Vision screening
•    Hearing screening
•    Oral health assessment
•    Screening for lead exposure
•    Screening for anemia
•    Screening for tuberculosis
•    Pelvic exam and pap test , including screening for cervical and ovarian cancare
•    Newborn screenings including sickle cell anemia
•    Developmental and behavioral assessments
•    Cholesterol and lipid level screening
•    Screening for depression
•    Screening and counseling for obesity
•    Behavioral counseling to promote a healthy diet
•    Screening for sexually transmitted infection

Immunizations:
•    Hepatitis A
•    Hepatitis B
•    Diphtheria, Tetanus, Pertussis (DtaP)
•    Varicella (chicken pox)
•    Influenza (flu shot)
•    Pneumococcal Conjugate (pneumonia)
•    Human Papilloma Virus (HPV)
•    HIb influenza type b
•    Polio
•    Measles, Mumps, Rubella (MMR)
•    Meningococcal Polysaccharide
•    Rotavirus

Adult Preventative Care (19 years and Older):

Preventative physical exams

Screening tests include:
•    Eye chart vision screening
•    Hearing screening
•    Cholesterol and lipid level screening
•    Depression screening
•    Diabetes screening
•    Prostate cancer screenings including digital rectal exam and PSA test.
•    Breast exam, breast cancer screening, including mammography
•    Pelvic exam and Pap test, including screening for cervical and ovarian cancer.
•    Screening for sexually transmitted diseases
•    HIV test
•    Bone density test to screen for osteoporosis
•    Colorectal cancer screening, including fecal occult blood test, barium enema, flexible sigmoidoscopy and screening colonoscopy.
•    Routine blood and urine screenings
•    Aortic Aneurysm Screening
•    Pregnancy screenings (including hepatitis, asymptomatic bacteriurla, RH incompatibility, syphilis, iron deficiency anemia, gonorrhea, Chlamydia.)
•    Intervention services to include counseling and education including the following:
-    Screening and counseling for obesity
-    Counseling related to generic testing for breast and ovarian cancer
-    Behavioral counseling to promote a healthy diet
-    Primary care intervention to promote breastfeeding
-    Counseling related to aspirin use for the prevention of cardiovascular disease
-    Screening and behavioral counseling related to tobacco use
-    Screening and behavioral counseling related to alcohol abuse.

Immunizations:
•    Hepatitis A
•    Hepatitis B
•    Diphtheria, Tetanus, (Td)
•    Varicella (chicken pox)
•    Influenza (flu shot)
•    Pneumococcal Conjugate (pneumonia)
•    Human Papilloma Virus (HPV)
•    Measles, Mumps, Rubella (MMR)
•    Meningococcal Polysaccharide
•    Herpes Zoster (shingles)

Health Insurance in Ohio

Read the newspaper, or turn on the radio or TV and you will soon discover that there are many changes being put in place for health insurance in Ohio in the next few years. The best thing that you can do is to keep yourself informed, so you are not taken by surprise by any of the changes.

What to expect in 2011: There will be a certain amount of premiums that insurance companies will have to spend on medical care and programs, not on administrative costs. If this is not done, rebates will be due to consumers. Insurance companies are required to issue the rebates by August 1, 2011 and they will then be received by the consumers by August 1, 2012.

What to expect in 2012: In 2012, shopping for health insurance will no longer be the hassle that it has been in the past. If you are looking for health insurance, you will be able to receive a “Summary of Benefits and Coverage”.  The layout of the summary will make it very easy to read and it will give examples of certain medical conditions and the coverage you would receive if you had those conditions. A list will also be given to you that will explain complicated words, such as “deductible”, “copay” and “coinsurance”. The next change will be that you will be notified 60 days in advance before any new rules or benefits affect your plan, which allows time for you to adjust to the change and plan ahead.

What to expect in 2014: Changes during 2014 will mostly affect those who buy coverage in the individual health plan market. If you buy their own insurance, one of the most helpful things that will happen is that you will no longer be turned down because of a health problem or a history of health problems. Also, the premium will not be based on the condition of your health but instead on “how many people the plan is covering, their ages, where they live and if they use tobacco”. A health insurance “exchange” program will also be implemented. The exchange program will vary from state to state, so you will want to research how it will affect Ohio as the time grows closer. The exchange program is being created to give individuals and small companies a variety of insurance plans to choose from, and a better understanding of the plans. The last change expected in 2014 will be that legal residents in America will be required by law to have a health insurance plan. To prove that you have health insurance you will need to show evidence of it on your tax return.

There are many changes, as you can see, that are expected to arise in the next few years. Remember to stay up to date on how these changes will affect you and your family. For some, these changes will be a very positive thing, whereas others may have to start paying more for insurance then they ever have in the past. Whatever your situation may be, we will be doing our best to keep you informed so that you are still receiving the best coverage for you, your family and your business.

Travel Insurance

U.S. tourism is all set to see happy days ahead with the federal government making it easier for international visitors to get through customs. Targeting mainly tourists from Brazil and China who are able and willing to spend, President Obama plans to speed up the non-immigrant visa approval process by making the Global Entry Program permanent. Obama is also looking to enhance the Visa Waiver Program which permits citizens from some countries to travel visa-free within the US for up to 90 days.  All this is expected to reverse the trend of declining visitors since 9/11 and also give the US economy the much-needed shot-in-the-arm by providing more people with jobs.

The number of visas that will be issued to citizens of Brazil and China is expected to increase by 40% within the next year. While visitors from these countries usually had to wait many months to obtain a visa, the new rules will help them get it done in just three weeks. Low-risk travelers – those traveling for visa renewal or on a relatively young or old scale – will no longer have to go through the interview process.

Florida is already topping the list as the favorite destination for Brazilians. According to the state’s tourism officials, the proportion of tourists from Brazil in 2011 went up 41% from 2010 and outnumbered vacationers from all other countries. They head for the beaches, theme parks and malls, enjoying the weather which is similar to Brazil’s. With prices cheaper in the U.S., most Brazilians love here shopping too.

International travel is fun just as long as you take the right precautions. If you are planning a vacation in the U.S., make sure you purchase international travel medical insurance. This will cover you if you happen to fall sick or have an accident at your destination. You can even extend your international travel insurance plan to cover trip cancellations, baggage loss and other unexpected events.