california health insurance quote

A recent news article explained that approximately one in five working Californians has health insurance. If that statistic is true, there are many California residents that lack health coverage. If your employer does not offer a health plan, there are affordable alternatives at your fingertips. Securing health insurance is a few mouse-clicks away.
What are some things you should consider when you’re looking for health insurance?
Remember that insurance is all about risk. You will automatically pay less for health insurance if you are healthy and take care of yourself because you are less of a risk to the insurance company. In other words, exercise, eat healthy and stop smoking. Most insurance companies will automatically give non-smokers a non-smoking discount.
Keep in mind that you will have to pay portions of some health and medical services out-of-pocket. Most health insurance plans require a deductible or copayment of some kind. You might have to pay $15 to visit your general practitioner for the sniffles or $40 for a trip to the emergency room. Your deductible is the amount of medical costs you pay out-of-pocket before your health insurance company starts paying. So, if your deductible is $625 per year, you will have to pay for your first $625 in medical/health bills – before your coverage begins.
What items and coverages should you keep an eye out for when you’re shopping for your health insurance policy?
- outpatient surgery
- inpatient hospital services
- prescription drugs
- mental health care
- office visits
- physical therapy
- medical testing
- rehabilitation care
In the end, your health insurance goal should be to protect yourself financially in the event of serious catastrophes. The best way to secure cheap health insurance is to live a healthy lifestyle. Another way to save money each month is to pay large deductibles and pay minimal fees out-of-pocket.
Other questions to ask your health insurance provider…
- How much will you have to pay for your monthly premium?
- How much will you have to pay out-of-pocket before your insurance coverage begins?
- Are the health facilities and medical providers you use in the insurance company’s network?
- Does the plan cover any pre-existing medical conditions?
- Does the plan include maternity costs?
- Is it easy to change primary care providers if you want to?
Governor Schwarzenegger might be proposing a universal health insurance plan for California, but affordable health insurance can be a mouse click away if consumers know where to look and what questions to ask.
HometownQuotes provides a quick and easy way for consumers to compare multiple insurance quotes. To learn more, visit http://www.hometownquotes.com
*Please note that this article is not a professional consultation. This article is for general information only. Always seek specific information from a licensed insurance professional.*
HometownQuotes, a Franklin, Tennessee company, provides a quick and easy way for consumers to compare multiple insurance quotes. To learn more, visit http://www.hometownquotes.com. View additional insurance articles at Hometown Quotes!
Smart employers need to review several areas before they begin shopping for group health insurance plans in California. It is imperative that you review benefit levels, cost sharing with employees and choice of insurance providers when searching for small business health insurance plans. You definitely will not make any final concrete decisions at this point. You will more or less have to direct your broker in the right path. Once you do this you can tweak your plan later on.
California offers several key protections for small businesses. A 1992 California law (AB 1672) provides health insurance purchasing protections for small businesses that were once enjoyed only by much larger firms. The specific protections in that law (Guaranteed Issue, Rating Protections, Portability, Marketing Provisions and Enforcement) that apply to small groups under this law are described below.
Guaranteed issue. Every small employer has the right to buy any health insurance product sold by a carrier to small employers. A product is a package containing a list of benefits (what the plan covers) and a type of service delivery (e.g., HMO or PPO) premiums.
Rating protections. No law sets health insurance rates, nor requires that they be approved by state regulators. California law does limit a carrier’s ability to charge low rates to groups whose members are in good health and high rates to those that include individuals in poor health. These protections operate by basing premium calculations on a “standard” rate that every carrier develops by taking certain allowable factors into account. Plans must set actual premiums no more than 10 percent above or below the standard rate. This creates a “rate band” within which the carrier may adjust employer rates for risk factors such as previous use of health services or industry type. Carriers may establish standard rates based on only three specific categories: age, geographic location, and family size. For example, a plan could develop one rate for a single employee aged 40 to 49 living in the Los Angeles area, and a different rate for an employee in the same age bracket who lives in Modesto and needs coverage for two children.
Portability Limitations on the use of pre-existing condition exclusions. Prior to the passage of California Law AB 1672, changing carriers could mean losing coverage for a specific health condition under a pre-existing condition exclusion clause. Now, pre-existing condition exclusions are limited to a one-time, six-month period. If the enrollee had previous coverage, the new carrier must count that coverage toward the six-month period, provided the employee becomes eligible within 62 days of losing the old coverage.
Marketing provisions. Carriers must “fairly and affirmatively offer, market and sell” all of their small group products. This means that brokers and agents must provide small employers with a summary brochure that describes the full range of benefit plans available from the insurers they represent. Specific disclosure requirements are intended to make it difficult for carriers, brokers and agents to steer business toward one product or another, such as guiding groups with sicker individuals to a particular benefit plan that costs more.
Enforcement. Carriers must file detailed information with state regulators regarding the products they sell in the small group market. Those that break the law are subject to penalties ranging from $2,500 to $100,000 per violation. Brokers and agents that do not comply with marketing and disclosure provisions may be subject to penalties ranging from $250 to $2,500.
Employers must begin their search for small group health insurance with a decision about the scope they are looking for in your group health insurance coverage. Will the company offer a limited plan or broad coverage for its employees? If shopping for basic coverage, the employees will obviously have to shell out a lot more whenever they go for their check up. Employees in California have shown repeatedly that they value lower co-pays from their plans, as, according to a 2007 survey, 72% of employees in the state selected plans with the lowest choice of co-pays. But if you are going for a more comprehensive plan, the out of pocket expenditure will be minimum.
You also need to decide the deductible amount that each of your employees have to pay. It’s even better if the insurance company allows you to have variable deductibles for each employee.
Jeb Blank writes frequently about group health insurance quotes for Insuriffic.com.
medical insurance?
I am looking to obtain a medical insurance policy. Any insurance brokers out there want to quote me? I am 21 years old. I have excellent health. 6 foot 160 llbs. 92630 zip code. California.
i am self employed.
Are you self-employed? You may want to look at a co-op set up within your industry if so. These can be accessed by joining associations for your line of work. Just be sure you check the association thoroughly to make sure they’re on the up-and-up.
If you’re employed BY someone, then it’s going to be cheaper there. There’s not an individual or co-op on the planet that’s cheaper than a group policy. It’s all about buying power.
The best you can hope to do for a reasonable rate if you HAVE to go individual is try to buy what we in the industry call a ‘catastrophic policy’. These plans are very high deductible but they make sure you don’t lose everything you own if you have a catastrophic accident or illness. These are the lowest premium plans you can find.
In conclusion, I seriously suggest that you not even bother with an individual plan if you can find any other way. I’ve been in the business a long time and I’ll be blunt in saying that there are almost no benefits to having an individual policy. It’ll hit your wallet, it’ll affect how you’re treated by your carrier, and it’ll make you count the days until your policy is over.