Posts Tagged ‘womens issues’

Best Maternity Health Insurance Plans Analyzed: Which Cost Is The Deciding Factor

Tuesday, July 26th, 2011

A key question couples planning to have a baby should ask is, “What will we pay if we use Maternity Health Insurance plan ‘XYZ’?” In a new report from SPF Insurance, titled ‘Analysis of Best California Maternity Health Insurance Plans’, couples can find a break down of the costs associated with prenatal care and delivery for the best maternity health insurance plans. A key finding from the article shows the tradeoff between the maternity insurance premiums and the out of pocket costs and how both affect the total out of pocket costs the couple will see.

The five pregnancy health insurance plans that were analyzed are the Kaiser 0/1500 HSA plan, the Kaiser 50 Copayment plan, the Anthem Blue Cross Select HMO plan, the Health Net HMO 40 plan, and the Blue Shield Spectrum 5000 plan. After totaling the office visit copays, the lab expenses, the cost of the Amniocentesis and Ultrasound tests, along with the hospital copay or coinsurance delivery costs, we get the Out Of Pocket Cost (OOP). Then we total up the 12 months of pregnancy health insurance premiums for the plans and add that to the out of pocket costs to get the Total Out Of Pocket Cost (TOOP). This is the total amount you would pay to have your baby.

Here is a quick summary of the analysis cost data from the article:

These five plans are the best pregnancy health insurance options available in California right now, and when you look at the data a couple of items stick out. The Blue Cross Select HMO plan has the lowest out of pocket costs, and the Blue Shield Spectrum plan has the lowest premium cost, however neither plan has the lowest total out of pocket cost. It’s clear that lower pregnancy insurance premiums or OOP costs are not always better. Ultimately keeping the total out of pocket cost lower is the goal, so both the premiums and the out of pocket costs have to be considered in each plan.

I know some people will probably look at the TOOP costs listed above and then decide that pregnancy insurance isn’t really providing a benefit. As a result, they’ll choose a plan that minimizes their premium costs just in case it takes longer to get pregnant. Then they are very frustrated when they end paying a lot more out of pocket because their pregnancy health insurancehad a high deductible. It’s vital to keep emotions out of the decision process, and know that even though your pregnancy costs will be between $5,000 to $9,000, the actual total cost of all the prenatal and delivery costs is closer to $20,000, and you’re paying less than half of that and if something goes wrong you have an insurance company to pay for everything else.

For most people, quality of care is the most important part of the decision regarding which maternity health insurance plan to choose. Cost is still an issue, but as you can see, the way to decide which plan is the best choice is to “run the numbers” and see what the total out of pocket cost will be. Then you’ll know what costs to plan for during your maternity and delivery period.

Tim Thompson writes Insurance Articles for SPF Insurance Services For more information and fast quotes on Maternity Health Insurance, visit SPFInsurance.com. To get latest updates, check out our blog at Maternity Insurance

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Tips To Burn Fat Fast And Banish Stubborn Belly Fat

Wednesday, September 8th, 2010

Nobody can honestly say that losing weight is an easy job. To lose weight and keep it off, you have to be dedicated, motivated, and willing to do plenty of work. While it does take some effort to lose weight, don’t let this discourage you from getting started. Start out with baby steps and find a good fat burning diet to lose weight and reach your goals.

Losing weight permanently will take more than going on a crash diet. To lose weight and keep it off, you’ll have to make some changes to your entire lifestyle. The best place to start is with the foods you consume because this is one of the most important elements of a fat burning diet. Here is a plan that will help you burn fat fast and boost your weight loss efforts:

1. Avoid eating too much red meat. A good change in your diet will involve avoiding too much red meat which does not only increase your weight but can also affect your cholesterol level. The best way to counter a craving for red meat is to train your taste buds to appreciate more sea food like fish, and other shellfishes. You can also stay with white meats from turkey and chicken. And remember, I didn’t say don’t eat meat. Meat means protein, and protein is good. Eating protein can help you to burn fat fast, just make sure that you eat a balanced fat burning diet and that you prepare your food in a healthy way.

2. Prepare food in a healthy way. Try different food preparation methods including roasting, broiling, boiling, baking, and grilling fish and meat rather than deep frying them. Avoid creamy sauces that are commonly served with main entrees. Instead, use low calorie condiments like a bit of barbecue sauce to make your main course taste interesting. Fish can be perfectly complemented with a lemon herb dressing. By starting a herb garden of your own or stocking your pantry with tasty herbs and spices, you can add flavor to your food without using excess salt or oil.

3. Be careful about eating fast foods. If you have no other option but to eat at fast food restaurants, avoiding super-sized meals and all you can eat buffets. This will add inches to your waistline in no time at all. Whether you’re dining out in a restaurant or at home, start with soup or salad to curb your appetite while waiting for the main course. If you feel full, you will be able to eat smaller portions, which of course is important when you’re trying to burn fat fast and lose weight.

4. Start each meal with a soup or salad. When you choose soup, opt for vegetable soups rather than cream soups. The fiber that’s in the vegetables is nutritious and will help you feel fuller. When eating salads, choose low calorie dressings like vinaigrette. Again, the vegetables in the salad are full of nutrients and fiber which will help fill you up.

5. It’s natural to crave dessert after a meal, but don’t give in to sweets that are full of empty calories. Again, you will benefit from the fiber, vitamins, and minerals that fresh fruits contain, while avoiding adding the many calories that most other desserts contain.

These are just a few things you can do to burn fat fast and completely change how you look at food. Not only will you become healthier, but your taste buds will become accustomed to the delicious foods that are part of fat burning diets.

Don’t waste your time and money. If you want to burn fat quickly, we have reviewed several quick weight loss diets. You can also read my fat burning furnace review to lose weight quickly.

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Helping Yourself Through Infertility Cost

Wednesday, December 2nd, 2009

Determining which infertility treatments your policy covers can be tricky. On one hand, you want accurate information. On the other hand, you risk alerting your insurer to the fact that you are about to undergo infertility treatment. If you are covered by a group plan, you cannot be disenrolled for medical reasons. But if you have individual coverage, there is always the possibility that the insurer will try to cancel your policy if it anticipates costly claims on the horizon. There are ways, however, to make inquiries about coverage without jeopardizing your policy.

The first step is to read your claims booklet carefully. This booklet may contain statements like “the treatment of infertility is not provided through the general policy, but may be part of a rider clause negotiated by a specific group”. Your personnel manager should be able to give you a copy of the rider. Even though infertility treatment (particularly in vitro procedures or even inseminations) may not be covered, try to find out if diagnostic blood tests and ultrasound procedures are, and, if so, how many are covered. From the booklet you may be able to deduce which diagnoses are more likely than others to be reimbursable.

You also will want to know what percentage of treatment costs are typically covered by the policy. Sometimes, instead of paying a percentage of a medical bill, some companies offer a flat fee. They may, for example, pay up to $45 for any blood analysis, even if your analysis costs $100. Try to find out what the general fee schedule is, particularly if you have ever seen the following explanation (or one like it) from the insurer when it only partially reimbursed you: “This charge has been declared over and above the customary fee charged by medical professionals in your area”. Finally, try to find out about deductibles and at what ceiling your coverage changes. Many companies begin to offer a higher percentage of coverage when your co-payment ceiling is reached. Also try to find out which drugs may be covered.

Injectable fertility medications are all costly. Some insurers cover them, others do not. Some policies have an annual dollar limit for prescriptions. If you are lucky, your policy includes a liberal prescription plan that covers almost all prescription medications (except birth-control pills), with a small co-pay by you. If your claim booklet fails to answer all your questions about covered medications, your pharmacist, who deals with numerous insurance carriers every day, may be able to answer some of your questions.

Another good source of information is a co-worker or friend who has had the same policy you do and has undergone infertility diagnosis and treatment. This individual should be able to give you the “lowdown” on the insurer’s payment record and can alert you to any land mines. Even if this person is only an acquaintance, remember that there is an allegiance of sorts among infertile people. Having suffered and survived the experience, most are eager to help and comfort others in any way they can.

Karol Cardinson is a Health specialist with over 20 years in Diet and Nutritions Research as well as a former Infertility sufferer and can help you with getting pregnant sooner and naturally. Find out how to reverse Female and Male Infertility naturally while improving the quality of your life! For more information go to Infertility Solutions Online

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