California Health Insurance

Among all the states in US, California has one of the highest costs for any medical treatment. This automatically calls for the people in California to insure themselves from these high costs by taking a comprehensive insurance plan. According to a survey carried out a few years back, nearly 80% of the population within the age 0-64 years had some sort of insurance. One of the most affluent counties of the state, the Los Angeles County, however, has more uninsured individuals as compare to the whole state. An approximate 65% of the California population is covered by the insurance policies which are to an extent decided and maintained by their employers. The Whites and Latinos have a lion’s share of the insured individuals. As in any other part of the country, the African Americans have the least rate of individuals insured.

This group of people even lags the Asian Americans in the state.

If you are looking for a health insurance plan for yourself or your family, then get ready to receive a barrage of offers from the local health insurance companies and health insurance agents. Almost all of these companies will offer your free quotes. Many of them will throw at you some kind of freebie. Every major insurance company has a comprehensive website equipped with tools that can help you get a rough estimate of your premium.

Depending upon an individual’s need, one can go for either of the health, vision or dental insurance or a mix of it. The more things you cover higher are your premium payments. Group insurance, usually provided by employers, is comparatively cheaper then individual insurance policies. Plus, the group insurance policies enjoy the benefits of special California state laws like Cal-COBRA. Let me explain you this special law. Say, you are in a full-time job with an organization which has more then 20 employees. Further due to some reason your job is terminated or reduced to a part-time job. In case of such qualifying events, your insurance coverage would continue up to 36 months. Thus you would have ample time to find a new policy and meet any medical costs that you might incur after the above mentioned event has occurred. Individual insurance policies don’t fall under the purview of Cal-COBRA.

If you are of the low income group or already have adverse medical conditions or are working in a very small organization (less then 50 employees), you have option of going for the CA state sponsored medical insurance programs. MRMIP is one such policy for anyone who has pre-existing medical condition. AIM is especially for pregnant women. Healthy Families Program is a policy drafted primarily for the children whose parents can’t afford to buy a policy for them. Pac Advantage covers Californians working in small organizations with less then 50 employees.

A strong recommendation is to read the details of any insurance policy and understand all the terms. For a common man, the insurance terminology might sound cryptic and near impossible to understand. However, it pays to spend some time reading all the conditions and discuss it with your family and insurance agent. Also before buying a plan take a look at your family history and see if you can find any ailment which runs in the family across various generations. You too may be at a risk of contracting this medical condition, if any. It would be wise to get it covered under a plan. A huge majority of policies cover both the cost of diagnosis and treatment. However, it is wisdom to understand what all conditions are excluded from the plan.

Also understand the co-payments required when you see a physician or go to a pharmacy to buy a prescribed drug.

Payments made as premiums may fully or partially qualify for tax deductions and can save you a small amount of tax. Also it would be wise to understand the process of filing any claim. Keep a tab on the insurance claim statements that you receive. Keep a note of how much is your doctor claiming from your insurance company for the treatment that he gave you. This becomes altogether more important if you are getting your treatment from the high cost San Francisco or Los Angeles area. Remember that insurance premiums are a recurring cost. They would take away a percentage of your income every month and for virtually whole of your life. A smart purchase not only shields you and your family against high medical costs but also saves you some precious dollars.

By: www.calpoly.edu