Governors representing Kentucky, Oklahoma, and Michigan are voicing their concerns through the state of the state’s addresses in February by attempting to make sure that they are heard when it comes to their specific state’s health insurance conditions.

Each one represents different perspectives obviously, but across the board it is clear that health insurance and health coverage is an important issue. In addition, there were comments that propose increasing cigarette taxes in order to curtail use, which increases create health hazards and health costs.

It appears that our country is poised to attack our healthcare issues from all angles. This is a step in a healthy direction for all of us and our children.

Some states like Massachusetts are tackling the problem head on with mandatory health coverage and attempting to bridge a working balance between health insurance carriers and government assistance and plans.

The answer has not been simple, but the benefits are clear.

What is your state’s situation like?

The answer should be very simple for most of us. Before you think of stocks, real estate, cd’s, etc., you should think of your health and well being. We seem to take our health for granted many times until it is not there.

Having health insurance for us and our families should be more important to us than a new car, a new computer, going to the spa, and many other things. Yet, the reality is that we sometimes place a lower importance on attaining health insurance and or maintain our good health than we really should.

Along with proper health insurance should come a commitment to taking better care of yourself. This includes obviously your eating habits, exercise, less drinking and smoking, taking your medications, and seeing your doctor for exams, checkups and physicals.

Yes, we need health insurance, but we should put our efforts into wanting not to ever have to use it because we remain healthy.

I know, even when we take care of ourselves, we can still get sick or in an accident, but that is life.

So as we all think about how to get ourselves out of this bad economy and surge ahead to profitability, let’s keep our health and health insurance needs as a top priority. We want to able to enjoy all the fruits of our hard work, let’s be healthy.

I wish you all good health and good health insurance in addition to profitable ventures.

The call may come in from a young father who wants to take care of his wife and baby by getting health insurance for what he deems important.

He may be relatively healthy and can afford a combination of basic health coverage and catastrophic through a mid-level deductible health plan.

Another call may come in from a grandmother who wants to get health insurance for her granddaughter who is a student in college. Her needs may be for student health insurance, if she can qualify.

Other calls may be a bit more challenging, but I assure you that being able to assist people in understanding health insurance and truly qualifying them based on their needs and what they want is a very rewarding experience.

It’s not just getting a health insurance quote, but really taking the time to qualify each individual with their specific conditions and medical history and then being able to find them the right carrier and coverage for them.

My job is very different each day, this is what makes it exiting. Our healthcare industry needs reform, yes, but our ability as an open market economy to be able to compete with each other allows our citizens the power to choose what’s best for them.

Truth be said, if you are healthy today it is important to attain a good quality individual health insurance policy so that you will not be rejected in the future due to developing any medical conditions or having pre-existing conditions.

Yet, if today you have medical conditions or pre existing conditions, there are still several options. These include finding a job that offers good group health insurance. Obviously, this restricts you from leaving the employer, since you would lose you coverage after a while. Yes, you can have COBRA, but this is for a limited time and it is usually very expensive since you are then paying for the entire premium amount plus an additional fee. Also, you can speak with a qualified and trusted health insurance agent that can guide you with the best alternatives. These may also include state subsidized guaranteed health insurance (whether HIPPA eligible or not), medical discount cards, limited medical plans, Medicaid, etc.

To start though, it is again best to speak with a qualified health insurance agent. They will be able to really qualify you based on your specific conditions in order to see if there are individual health insurance carriers available that would be willing to issue you a policy either with higher premium or by excluding certain conditions.

Always know that there are options, but to start, speak with a good licensed health insurance agent.

This might sound like a tough question or you may be under the impression that the answer is Group Health Insurance, but the reality is that if you are under Medicare age and relatively healthy, you are probably better off with individual health insurance.

The reason for this is that individual health insurance is portable to you. This means that you will not lose it once you leave your employer. It is independent of your employer. Also, it is probably going to be cheaper than your employer’s health insurance. Even just counting on the amount you contribute.

It is true that you can attain high quality affordable health insurance on an individual basis. You simply need to know where to look and who to trust enough to guide you in the process.

Employer health insurance is restricted to obviously you being employed with the employer. Also, the plan includes whatever the employer wanted to include and wanted to contribute with certain restrictions.

Today there are many more options, even some that allow you to receive tax benefits for purchasing individual health insurance. This is only fair, since employers receive tax benefits for purchasing health insurance.

Whether you are an employee, self employed, or unemployed, individual health insurance is probably a better option than traditional group health insurance coverage.

Do yourself and your family a big favor and consult with a trusted and qualified health insurance agent.

COBRA: accept or find an alternative?

COBRA stands for “Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985” which allows the extension of “Group” health coverage to terminated employees and their families for up to 18 to 36 months.

This law does not require the employer to pay the cost of the continued group coverage; the terminated employee can be required and in most cases are required to pay the premium, which may be up to 102% of the premium that would otherwise be charged.

The recommendation would generally be to accept COBRA benefits if you have any pre-existing medical condition that would otherwise preclude you from being accepted by an individual type plan but if you are healthy and with no pre-existing medical condition, you would save money on your premiums and have similar if not better coverage than the plan offered by your employer.

One excellent option is to consider what is known as “Short Term” medical insurance, this type of plan offers major medical insurance benefits for a defined amount of time, usually 6 – 12 months and is less expensive than your standard major medical plans.

As obvious as this sounds, it needs to be emphasized, especially when it comes to the uninsured and the healthcare consumption per state. It appears that there are some clearly evident differences in addition to some subtle differences per state and, for that matter, even per regions. Therefore, it is healthy to maintain competition between health insurance companies to better serve each community’s needs.

Some may be more inclined for Medicare benefits and special care, others may be more suitable for student type health insurance, such as college towns and universities.

Also, there are ethnic differences that require different types of health plan offerings.

Yet, no matter the state — whether Florida or California, Rhode Island or Mississippi, Texas or Kansas — we need a country to provide a better access to health insurance carriers and products.

Health insurance is as important to each state as it is to our country. If we are going to be able to compete on a global basis, we need our workers to have adequate healthcare coverage for them and their families. Competition is good and private enterprise should work in balance with government to accomplish this.

Our uninsured numbers as a country tell a deeper story than just sheer numbers. This needs to be better understood in order to make progress. What are the reasons for being uninsured? Is it just transitionary and for how long?

Many bankruptcies due to healthcare costs occur when the ex-employee has lost their health insurance coverage. Also, many consumers simply don’t think it is important enough to purchase health insurance and figure that someone else will pay if they get sick.

There are many issues to resolve, but one is clear, we all need health insurance.

Although many pundits claim that our supply and demand capitalist nation doesn’t work, there are many that disagree. Our country whether you realize it or not, already has too large a government. This government, if it were a business would be very inefficient. Yet, any malady that occurs within our country economically, the business capitalist is blamed.

The role of small business, the entrepreneurship style, the “I can do” attitude needs to remain a strong staple of our economy if we want to remain competitive and successful in the future.

This is evident in healthcare as an industry. Although much of the wrong is blamed on business, our government’s rules and policies have made the problem what it is today.

Our private enterprise system in healthcare can succeed and must be a part of the solution we are all seeking. To simply put our government to decide what our doctors should prescribe, when to see our specialists, or when a certain procedure is necessary brings back notions of an HMO process type plan.

We as consumers want to make decisions regarding our health insurance. We want to purchase the plan and benefits we want and not be told to just get a government plan.

As President Obama prepares to put forth in motion healthcare reform, I hope that choice remains free and available. Let us choose our doctors, our hospitals. Whether we are in Miami, Florida, Houston, Texas, Chicago, Illinois or anywhere else.

This is a question only each one of us can answer for ourselves, but it appears that the resounding conclusion is NO. Approximately twenty percent of our gross domestic product is spent of healthcare as an industry. Obviously, most of these expenditures start through the premium process, meaning that our healthcare expenses start by being collected by the health insurance carriers and third party administrators. From there, actual healthcare expenses and administrative costs are paid.

My whole point was not to give you an insurance 101 class, but to state of how important the role of an agent who will help you and your family decide how to spend your money in attaining the best health insurance policy for and your family’s needs.

Therefore, if your agent is not experienced enough, nor has the knowledge for all products and plan types that should be available to you, then he or she may not be able to assist you in getting the best health insurance policy for you.

An agent really must qualify each prospective client individually and specifically for their needs. This means that a client’s health conditions and health history are important for this process to be done right. The risk of submitting an insurance application to the wrong carrier that may reject you can be great.

Also, a good health insurance agent will properly analyze your budget and work with you on assessing your tolerance for risk.

The combination of all these things plus understanding the carriers peculiarities in processing, underwriting, billing, acceptance, etc. will go a long way in really working the best health insurance policy for you.

HMO stands for Health Maintenance Organization; it is a group of health care providers that have contracted with an insurance company to provide services to its “subscribers’ (Policy Holder) at fixed pre-set prices. HMO’s require its subscribers to elect a primary care physician within their network, HMO’s require a referral from the primary care physician and pre-authorization from the carrier before you can visit any specialist; HMO’s will not cover any out of network physician or hospital visit and are more restrictive on your ability to decide what treatment you may receive. Typically HMO’s are somewhat lower priced plans when compared to PPO’s, physicians are required to see more patients on a daily basis, this will limit the amount of time and services a physician can render to its clients.

PPO stands for Preferred Provider Organization; it’s a large network of Doctors and Hospitals that have contractual agreements with insurance companies; PPO’s are much less restrictive than HMO plans and allow you more control over your medical treatment and who will provide that treatment; you will not need any referral or pre-authorization to visit a specialist of your choice. PPO plans allow its policy holders to visit any in-network or any out of network physician and hospital, however when you visit an in-network physician, you will receive a reduced rate for the services rendered. PPO’s offer a wide array of deductibles, coinsurances and co-pays to help its policy holders customize a plan to suit there coverage and budget requirements.

I have helped thousands of clients over the years with their health insurance needs and I would only recommend a PPO plan.