Kentucky Health Insurance

Individual Health Insurance Kentucky

Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) are becoming more and more popular in Kentucky and in other states. With health care costs rising, a HSA paired with a High Deductible individual health insurance Kentucky plan is a great way to save money. Read on to learn how.

A HSA is a special savings account in which you can save money to pay for your current and future medical expenses. The contributions that you make to your HSA are tax-free. You can open a HSA if you have a HSA-compatible high deductible health plan (HDHP).

How combining a HSA with a Kentucky HDHP saves money:

•    A HDHP-HSA plan has a lower premium than a traditional health insurance plan. The money that you save on your premium can be put into your tax-advantaged savings account and used to pay for your qualified medical expenses, current and future. With a traditional plan, more money goes into paying premiums regardless of the health care services you use.

•    Unused funds in the HSA stay invested and continue to earn tax-free interest year after year.

•    Contributions made to your HSA from your salary are not taxable.

•    If contributions are made to your HSA with after-tax dollars, the amount can be deducted from your gross income, so that you pay that much less income tax at the end of the year.

•    The money that you withdraw from your HSA to pay for your medical expenses is not taxable.

In summary: A Kentucky HSA HDHP plan can save money with low monthly premiums and allow you to benefit from tax savings.

Qualified Medical Expenses that HSA Funds Can Pay For

The qualified health care costs that HSA funds can pay include (but are not limited to):

•    Prescribed medications
•    Over-the-counter medications with a prescription
•    Insulin/diabetic supplies
•    Bandages
•    Contact lens supplies
•    Dental visits/orthodontics
•    Eyeglasses
•    Long-term care insurance premiums
•    COBRA coverage cost
•    Medical insurance premiums while receiving federal or state unemployment compensation
•    Post age-65 premiums for coverage other than Medigap or Medicare supplemental plans

Are you Eligible for a Health Savings Account?

As mentioned earlier, one of the conditions for opening a HSA is that you must have a High Deductible Health Plan. Other requirements include:

•    You do not have other disqualifying coverage such as a non-HDHP plan
•    You are not enrolled in Medicare
•    You are not claimed as a dependent on another person’s tax return

For More Information

One of the biggest advantages of the HSA is that if it is available through your employer, you would still have it even if you left your job. You can continue to make tax-free-contributions to your HDHP-HSA individual health insurance Kentucky plan and save money.

Leading health insurance Kentucky companies offer a variety of HDHP-HSA plans. Contact an experienced Kentucky health insurance broker for more information and guidance to choose the right option.

Up to 159 million Americans (52 percent) are covered by employer-sponsored plans. The Affordable Care Act is changing the group health insurance scenario. Employers are concerned about the rising cost of per-employee benefit costs and are expecting their employees to contribute more out of their pay checks to the benefits package. This is borne out by the results of several studies, including ERC’s recently published 2011/2012 Policies & Benefits Survey covering Northeast Ohio employers.

Recent Deloitte and the International Society of Certified Employee Benefit Specialists (ISCEBS) research1 indicates that 85% of employers expect new health insurance law to raise per-employee benefit costs. Employees are expected to help employers face this challenge by paying more out of their pay checks to their benefits package. In fact, the focus on controlling healthcare costs is evident: 73% of the employers surveyed said that health care reform will push them to reevaluate their benefits packages over the next 12 months in light of health reform changes. Sixty-two per cent of employers have already made cost-sharing a part of their benefits packages.

Two-thirds of the Deloitte employer respondents are making no immediate changes to their benefit programs and adopting a “wait and see” approach for final healthcare reform provisions that may reduce plan design flexibility.
More controversial was the recent McKinsey & Company survey2 of 1,300 employers in early 2011 which found that 30% said they would “definitely or probably” stop offering employer coverage after 2014. Nearly half of the employers said they would consider alternatives to their current plans, including an insurance option that would only offer coverage only to certain employees.

A survey conducted by the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured and the Urban Institute3 last year showed that in 2010, employees with coverage contributed a greater share of the total premium, a significant change from the steady share they paid on average over the last decade. In 2010, covered employees on average contributed 19% of the total premium for single coverage (up from 17% in 2009) and 30% for family coverage (up from 27% in 2009).

According to ERC’s 2011 survey, Northeast Ohio employers report that the average health insurance deductible paid by employees has risen significantly since 2009. As organizations strive to cope with the increase in costs, they are resorting to greater cost-sharing with employees. The survey indicates that employees’ co-pay amounts and contribution to health insurance premiums also increased in the last two years. Competing objectives are complicating matters.

Deloitte/ISCEBS rates employers’ top five total reward priorities as:

•    Cost of healthcare benefits
•    Employees’ willingness to share more of the benefit
•    Ability of the benefits program to attract, motivate and retain talent
•    Ability to comply with and adjust to PPACA’s mandate
•    Clear alignment of total reward strategy with business strategy and brand

Presenting the other side of the picture, the study lists the personal challenges that employees face as follows:

•    75 percent of the respondents ranked their ability to afford retirement, including post-retirement healthcare, in their top three personal challenges.
•    60 percent of employees ranked job security among their top three concerns.
•    48 percent of respondents plan to increase their level of contribution to qualified retirement plans

Educating employees on health plans, usage, costs and health prevention and wellness programs can help them make smarter decisions when it comes to cost-sharing and improving the flexibility of group health insurance plans .

References

12011 Top Five Total Rewards Priorities

2How US Health Care Reform Will Affect Employee Benefits

32010 Kaiser/HRET Employer Health Benefits Survey

As far as your health goes, the first thing you have to do is shake off the ‘it won’t happen to me syndrome’. It is this that keeps most people, especially the young, from buying medical insurance. Realizing that you are as vulnerable to health issues as anybody else is the first step. Once you have done that, looking at various options and avoiding errors when you buy health insurance is the key to getting proper coverage.

Make the Most of Your Health Insurance

You can avoid many stumbling blocks if you keep certain things in mind when shopping around for a health insurance policy:

• Understand plan coverage: If you want to choose a plan with the most benefits, learn to understand your plan. If a plan covers hospitalization and doctor’s office visits, make sure it covers your current illness too. For major medical coverage, go for a plan that can meet big expenses. If you are a young woman, ensure that your plan offers maternity benefits. If you are an older person, you should check if your health insurance would continue after your retirement, and if your spouse would enjoy dependent status even when you stop working.

• Understand your deductible: Your health insurance deductible is the amount that you have to pay every year for your healthcare before your insurance payments start. It covers surgery, hospitalization, and blood tests. Once you reach your deductible, you don’t have to pay anything, or you share the rest of the expenses with the insurer up to your out-of-pocket maximum. If you rarely use medical care, opt for a high deductible plan so that you have a lower premium.

• Understand out-of-pocket expenses: It is important to understand what you have to pay out-of-pocket for your healthcare. The out-of-pocket maximum is the total amount you pay annually for healthcare. See if your deductible is included in the out-of-pocket maximum.

• Save on taxes when you spend on healthcare: A high deductible health plan (HDHP) is what you need to buy if you want to enjoy the Health Savings Account (HSA) advantage The money that you put into a HSA pays for your medical expenses and is tax-free.

• Consider prescription drug coverage: See if you have coverage for expensive prescription drugs. Many drugstores also provide antibiotics free of cost.

• Easily renewable plan: See if the health insurance plan guarantees renewal of your coverage without troubling you for proof of your good health status.

• Buy a plan from an established provider: Buying a comprehensive plan from an established insurance provider would ensure better rates as well as durability. Check out the ratings of insurance companies, compare companies, and examine complaint ratios.

• Compare more than just rates: - Don’t just compare rates. Make sure the company has a good reputation for settling claims.

• Update your coverage: When you buy a policy, make sure you evaluate and update your coverage every year to incorporate births, marriage or divorce, adoption, and other life changes.

• Retain your own insurance policy until employer-sponsored insurance starts: If you are new in a job, remember that the health insurance plan your company offers may not start until after a few months. So take care to keep your existing health plan till then.

• Compare agents: Do some serious research on health insurance agents who can help you buy a suitable plan. See if they will listen to your concerns. Ask them to explain the fine print in the policy. Explore their websites to understand the services they offer and ask them how they can help you make the right decision.

• Buy insurance when you are young: Buying insurance when you are young and have dependents is wise. It is easier to qualify for insurance when you are young, and rates would be lower too. Trying to buy a policy when you are middle-aged and faced with a serious ailment is difficult.

Expert Guidance Helps

Reliable independent insurance agents can guide you through the entire process of choosing the right policy and avoid errors when you buy health insurance. They help you get quotes, compare them, understand the fine print and find a plan to suit your needs and budget.

Kentucky medical insurance companies offer a whole range of comprehensive and affordable plans for individuals, families, small business, self-employed, students and people who need temporary coverage. Finding the right plan means comparing the options offered by the various providers. The best way to go about this is to use the online resources offered by reliable insurance agents.

Types of Kentucky Medical Insurance

Kentucky health insurance includes indemnity (fee for service), HMO (Health Maintenance Organization), PPO (Preferred Provider Organization) and POS (Point of Service) plans. With indemnity plans, you have a greater choice of health providers, though you may have to pay your bill upfront and claim reimbursement from your health insurance company later. The features of managed care plans are as follows:

• HMO plans are a preferred choice as they have low premiums. They provide service through a network of doctors, medical personnel and facilities that work directly for the HMO. You can select your primary care physician who would refer you to other providers in the network if necessary.

• With a PPO plan, your medical bills are fully covered if you see a doctor or hospital in the network. You are provided basic medical care and would have pay fixed monthly premiums.

• In the POS plan, you see a doctor in the network and he would refer you to other in-network physicians if needed.  However, there could be a deductible for non-network care, and co-payments could be quite high.

A High Deductible Health Plan (HDHP) which features lower premiums but higher deductibles than a traditional plan are useful when combined with a Health Savings Account (HSA). Benefits include catastrophic coverage plus a tax-free savings account to save money for routine medical expenses.

HumanaOne and Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield offer several affordable and flexible Kentucky medical insurance plans. Offering customized solutions, they allow you to add on supplemental accident benefits and dental benefits at an additional cost.

Professional Help to Choose the Right Plan

Getting in touch with a competent insurance agent would help you in your search for Kentucky medical insurance. Offering expert online guidance and facilities to get and compare free quotes from leading insurance providers, such assistance is indispensable when it comes to reducing costs without compromising quality.

Dental insurance works the same way as health insurance does. In other words, as in the case of general health insurance, you can choose from indemnity and managed care plans for your dental needs. While many employers now offer their staff dental coverage, individuals who are not covered at the workplace can also get affordable dental insurance.

Affordable Dental Insurance Options for Kentucky Residents

Keeping you smile healthy is not as simple as it sounds. Professional dental care and treatment is expensive. So whether you are looking for individual or group dental insurance coverage you need to find an affordable dental insurance plan. Kentucky residents can choose from indemnity and managed care plans.

• Indemnity plans offer a broader selection of dental care providers than managed-care plans, but mean higher out-of-pocket costs.
• In managed-care plans, dentists participating in provider networks provide treatment at pre-negotiated rates.

When you buy a dental insurance plan, you pay a monthly premium that entitles you to care that includes basic dental treatment, x-rays, cleanings, regular checkups, and certain services that promote general dental health. Some plans cover even dental surgery, denture work, orthodontia, and other expensive dental procedures.

Affordable dental insurance plans for Kentucky residents include the following benefits:

• Choice of dentist with discounts for in-network dentists
• Coverage with dentists both in and outside the network
• Coverage for most-used services plus choice of dentist
• Coverage of in-network services only, with stress on preventive care
• Cost-effective plans with emphasis on prevention

Some insurance companies like Humana One have health insurance plans that include dental insurance, but also offer independent individual dental plans. Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield offers plans offering full coverage for diagnostic and preventive care as well as a fixed amount for basic and major dental services with providers in the company’s network. Many compnaies offer the option to add dental to your general health insurance plan.

Buying Dental Insurance

When you buy a dental insurance plan, make sure that you know what benefits you are getting. The best way to understand the fine print is to contact a reliable insurance agent representing insurance companies that offer affordable dental insurance plans in Kentucky. Visit the agent website to get free quotes and expert guidance on all your dental insurance needs.