Most Americans get health insurance from their employers and never review their policy to learn the details of their health insurance benefits, dictating which medical providers they can use, and what their out of pocket expenses will be. It usually takes a health problem for the employee or a member of their family to bring the details to light, and by then, it’s usually too late.

According to Paul Zane Pilzer’s book, The New Health Insurance Solution, the lack of Affordable health insurance, and rising health care costs now consume almost one-sixth of America’s economy, and during ones lifetime, medical and health insurance costs are likely to be the largest or second largest expense after housing. That’s if a person is lucky enough to have health insurance. However, even if one has health insurance, the traditional employer-sponsored plan is likely the number one threat to an employee’s financial future.

This statement is supported by a recent article published in the Detroit News citing a dramatic increase in the number of home foreclosures. Below is an excerpt:

“The first and most obvious reason so many homeowners are missing their mortgage payments would seem to be unemployment. Michigan posted one of the highest annual unemployment rates in the nation last year, and it’s expected to keep edging up in 2006. But while disappearing paychecks are a factor, so are the shrinking paychecks brought about by cuts in overtime or total hours worked, experts say. Divorce or prolonged illness often leads to foreclosures.”

“It’s really three things: loss of income, reduction in income or substantial medical expenses,” says Stuart Gold, a Southfield bankruptcy attorney as quoted in the Detroit News article.

Health Savings Accounts are an excellent way to offset the risks of bankruptcy due to catastrophic medical expenses and for individuals who remain relatively healthy and manage to accumulate funds in their HSAs, such accounts could be an important part of planning and saving for later-life health needs such as long-term care.

Author, Craig Stiff of Lifespring Health, writes on the benefits of Health Savings Accounts as an alternative to expensive Health Insurance Policies. More information can be found at http://www.LifespringHealth.com

Tags: affordable health insurance, health savings account, Health savings accounts, HSA, HSA accountsaffordable health insurance, health savings account, Health savings accounts, HSA, HSA accounts

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About a year or so ago, a major consumer protection magazine reviewed books about personal finance written by the well-known gurus on the subject. The magazine found that the subject of insurance was hardly covered at all.

If you think about it, this is a strange failure on the authors’ parts. Without insurance the best laid financial plans can disappear in a moment of inattention or a puff of smoke. All you saved and invested can be gone in seconds.

Insurance is here to make sure an accident does not destroy you. It protects against fire, flood, theft and collision.

It will defend you if you injure someone in an accident.

It will allow your surviving family to carry on for a time without the income you produce and it will even replace that income if you become disabled.

Many people don’t believe that a disaster will befall them. Or they want to spend the money on something that’s more fun.

But as expensive as insurance may seem, and certain policies, like disability insurance can be quite costly, it is substantially cheaper than the alternative.

If you home burns down and you lose it and its contents, the premium you pay now will seem like peanuts.

If you run someone over with your car and cause them serious injuries, the cost of your legal defense alone is many times what you pay for the policy.

Insurance is the difference between picking yourself up and carrying on after a disaster or facing bankruptcy and financial ruin.

In my opinion every wage earner should have term life and a disability income replacement policy.

If you own a home or rent, you need homeowners or renters insurance.

If you have a car, auto insurance is mandatory in most states - and don’t think the legal minimums required by most states will protect you in a serious accident.

Finally you need good health insurance coverage, preferably backed up by a high limit major medical policy.

Prepare for life’s risks so you don’t become one of its victims.

For more information on insurance and financial planning, visit http://www.credit-yourself.com/insurance.html

Chris Cooper, a retired attorney, and his wife Aileen, who has an MBA in Finance, provide personal financial planning advice at Credit Yourself - http://www.credit-yourself.com

Tags: disability in, financial planning, Health Insurance, homeowners insurance, insurance, life insurancedisability in, financial planning, Health Insurance, homeowners insurance, insurance, life insurance

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Consumer-driven healthcare is a label that we’ve put on a movement in America to change the way decisions are made in our healthcare system. Instead of insurance companies making all the decisions about how people will receive their healthcare, consumers are taking back the power over their own lives.

Likewise, the days of a patient totally putting their lives into their doctor’s hands are over. People don’t trust doctors to always do the best thing. How could they? The doctor does not know the situation as well as the patient. It must be the patient’s choice, and they must be making an informed choice, not one based on a five minute sales pitch from a doctor.

If consumer-driven healthcare sounds good to you, that’s because it is. It is a very good thing. Dr. Bernie Siegel, a holistic MD and author, noticed many years ago that the patients who took the most interest in their own well being while in the hospital had the best recovery rates from diseases and injuries. These patients are called “troublemakers” by hospital staff. But the truth is, they live. The “compliant” patients die in much greater numbers. Take your pick.

The consumer-driven healthcare revolution is represented in the insurance industry by the emergence of the health savings account (HSA). This is a savings account (like a bank account) that allows you to save tax-deferred money for healthcare expenses whenever you might need it. You can take the money out without paying tax, as long as you’re using it for healthcare expenses.

The Health Savings Account allows people to use a much higher deductible on their health insurance, reducing the cost of insurance payments by 40%, 60% or even 80%.

My wife and I would pay about $1000/month for low-deductible health insurance. But with a high-deductible plan and an HSA, we pay $175. That’s an $825, or 82.5% savings every month, $9,900 a year. That buys a lot of yoga classes, or acupuncture treatments, or massage therapy. Or it can go towards a very nice retirement savings. Or a car after two years. Whatever we like.

The downside of consumer-driven healthcare is that whenever you take over control of a situation, you also have more responsibility. You have control of your healthcare dollar, but now you have the responsibility to spend it in the right places. And you need the discipline to do what you know is right. That’s often very hard.

But overall, consumer-driven healthcare is a big step forward. In the next two or three years, many Americans will take charge of their own healthcare.

Join the consumer-driven healthcare revolution! You’ll save money, be healthier and have more choice over your own life.

Daryl Kulak is the author of Health Insurance Off the Grid, a book that provides a simple, effective plan to reduce insurance costs for the self-employed, unemployed and underinsured. The book is available at the Website http://www.healthoffthegrid.com

Tags: agent, consumer, driven, Health Insurance, health savings account, healthcare, HSA, MSA, save moneyagent, consumer, driven, Health Insurance, health savings account, healthcare, HSA, MSA, save money

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