Health Insurance Options For The Self-Employed

As increasingly more Americans are going to work for themselves, starting small businesses or working as independent contractors, the need for self-employed health insurance is on the rise.Unfortunately, health insurance for the self-employed tends to be more expensive than employee-offered group insurance plans. This may be why well over half of all self-employed Americans don't carry an insurance policy. While this saves them money in the short-term, it can be financially disastrous when they find they need to go see a doctor.Getting Group InsuranceGroup insurance is cheaper because everyone in the group increases the group's purchasing power. Most people get group insurance from their employers, but it's not the only way. Those who are self-employed do have some group insurance options. You can get group insurance plans from some trade or professional groups, civic organizations and churches.For those who are just becoming self-employed, you can keep your group insurance plan for up to 18 months with a program called COBRA. COBRA simply extends your employee-offered insurance policy until you can get on your feet and find your own. It can also help you make the transition to a new insurance plan. For more information, and to see if you are eligible for COBRA, have a look at their website.One way to save money on your insurance is to use your working spouse's group insurance plan. If you spouse works for a large company whose insurance plan extends benefits for families and spouses, you may be able to get on their insurance. This is a good option for those who are just starting out with their own business. It's not individually tailored to you, but it will save you money that you can spend on your start-up costs.Getting Your Own Individual PlanWhile looking for a good individual health insurance plan, remember that you are in control. Shop around and interview the insurance agents. There are lots of options available to you, and many companies to choose from, so don't go with the first good one that comes along.You also have to read the fine print and understand every detail of the health plan they offer you. When you are looking at different companies, check with your state's insurance commission office to see if any complaints have been made against the company.

Florida Health Insurance Rate Hikes and Quotes

Florida Health Insurance Rate HikeFlorida Health insurance premiums have touched new heights! Every Floridian has the common knowledge that most annual health insurance contracts will endure a rate increase at the end of the year. This trend is not new and should be expected. Every time this issue pops up it seems as though the blame game starts. Floridians blame Health insurance companies; Health insurance companies blame Hospitals, Doctors and other medical care providers, Medical care providers blame inflation and politicians, well, we really don't know what they do to help the issue... No one seems to be interested in finding the real cause of the health insurance premium rate increase. Most individuals, self employed, and small business owners have taken Florida Health Insurance Rate Hikes as the inevitable evil. Hard FactsWhat are various reports telling us? Why do Health insurance premium have annual rate increases? Rate of inflation and heath insurance premium rate increase. America’s health expenditure in the year 2004 has increased dramatically, it has increased more than three time the inflation rate. In this year the inflation rate was around 2.5% while the national health expenses were around 7.9%. The employer health insurance or group health insurance premium had increased approximately 7.8% in the year 2006, which is almost double the rate of inflation. In short, last year in 2006, the annual premiums of group health plan sponsored by an employer was around $4,250 for a single premium plan, while the average family premium was around $ 11,250 per year.

Your Insurance Policy and Earthquakes

If you are a homeowner in the United States, you may think that your homeowners insurance covers you in the event of any major catastrophe that may strike your home. Think again. In the United States earthquake damage to homes is not covered by standard homeowners insurance. Although other forms of insurance cover damage brought on by earthquakes such as car insurance, after examining your homeowner’s insurance policy a little closer, you will likely find that your home is not covered in the event of an earthquake. The presentation of an article on health insurance plays an important role in getting the reader interested in reading it. This is the reason for this presentation, which has gotten you interested in reading it!Accept the way things are in life. Only then will you be able to accept these points on health insurance. health insurance can be considered to be part and parcel of life.In the United States there are certain areas and regions that are more prone to earthquakes. The west coast, for example, lies directly above a major fault line in the Earth causing frequent earthquakes, some of which have been tremendous. California is one state that has been home to a number of disastrous earthquakes throughout history. However, if you do not live on the west coast of the United States do not assume you are free of the danger of earthquakes. Earthquakes can occur anywhere at anytime and on average about 5,000 earthquakes occur in the United States each year. In the past century earthquakes had been registered in 39 of the 50 United States, well over half of the country. Earthquakes measuring at least a 7 on the Richter scale, which measures the magnitude of an earthquake, occurred in both the eastern and central regions of the United States in the 19th century. Earthquakes can range from barely being able to be felt, to shaking the ground so violently that major buildings collapse to the ground. If you happen to be caught in one of the worse earthquakes your home will surely be damaged. The most recent earthquake to cause considerable damage to surrounding areas was in Northridge, California in 1994. The earthquake measured at a 6.7 magnitude on the Richter scale and caused almost twenty million dollars in damage in Northridge and the surrounding towns and cities.

The Freedom to Choose/Find Car Insurance Online

Online shopping has changed the way we do things as Americans, Christmas shopping sprees that took hour upon hour, day after day can now be reduced down to a mere fraction of the time they used to take. A few points and clicks and your family's entire wish list shows up at your door. No wasting gas on travel, no freezing your rear end off out in the cold and no Christmas Eve fights with someone twice your size who is looking for the exact same toy for their child that you are for yours when the store only has one left.Online shopping has also allowed us to find the absolute best price on a particular item within minutes, with none of the trekking from store to store in search of the ultimate sale or bargain.One of the biggest benefits of online shopping occurred when Auto Insurance entered itself into the picture.What's so great about buying auto insurance online?Auto insurance is no longer an option, it's a requirement and it's often a very expensive requirement. Some drivers pay thousands and thousands of dollars a year to keep their cars on the road, so any savings available could be crucial in how they live the rest of their lives.In the past, if you were considering switching from one insurance company to another it could take weeks to just get a quote. You had to mail out (or take into the local insurers office) all of your pertinent information regarding your automobiles and your driving record and it could take any number of days before they put together the information and generated a quote for you (if they were willing to take you at all based on your driving record.)Many people just renewed the insurance policy they had, perhaps costing them hundreds of dollars a year, just so they didn't have to go through the colossal hassle of trying to make the switch.The ability to shop for auto insurance online has taken virtually all of the hassle out of making that switch, making it easy for Americans to save money by choosing the best policy through the best provider for them.Who's doing it?Companies like ING, Belairdirect, and CAA where pioneers in the field of online auto insurance shopping.

Aetna and Aarp Health Insurance Provides Relief for Baby Boomers

Finding affordable health insurance these days is very hard, with the economy in the state that it is in people are struggling just to make ends meet. This is why many people feel that health insurance may not be worth price the high monthly premiums that they are used to paying. For many people the having health insurance means that they have to sacrifice money that may be going to something that they feel that they may more likely benefit from. For people with families to support, there are definitely other priorities such as putting food on the table, or making sure the heat is kept on. Now with Aetna Individual Health Insurance, an individual can be insured for a lower monthly premium than ever before. Aetna Individual Health Insurance not only benefits the person who signs up for insurance, but also everyone who is related to that person. If the person who is signed up for that insurance policy is the provider this means that they will be spending less money on monthly insurance rates and instead they will be putting their hard earned money into other things besides health insurance. Health insurance is one of the most important things that our country has going for it. The rate of uninsured Americans is rising at an alarming rate, mostly due to the state of the economy. Many people can now not afford the cost of health insurance for themselves, never mind their families and loved ones.

Affordable Health Insurance is Vital for Protecting Your Family

Finding affordable health insurance in the United States has become mission impossible for the millions of Americans who are struggling to make ends meet. In a poll done in 2005 it was found that Americans biggest fear wasn’t terrorists, or car payments, but finding affordable health insurance. What these people don’t know is that health insurance doesn’t have to be expensive. If you shop around for the best prices that fit your needs you may sitting pretty every month when you pay your monthly premiums. Many people want to know what the “perfect plan” is, well the thing is that there is no ultimate plan that will be able to save you from all your healthcare woes, what you need to do is sit down and write a list of all of your unique needs that you need to have met in order for you and your family to live safely and comfortably. Some of the questions that you may want to ask yourself are whether or not you want protection from serious illnesses and diseases, if you want coverage for just yourself or do you need coverage for your entire family, or even if you want coverage for pre-existing medical problems that you or a loved one may have.

Life Insurance For People Over 50

Are people over 50 too old for life insurance? After all, most consumers assume that large term life insurance policies work best when they cover younger people who still have a mortgage to cover and kids to support. We are all sold term life insurance at some point with the thought that after the contract expires, our kids will be off, and our homes will be all paid off. At that point, in a perfect world, we would have savings so that any future needs and obligations could be self insured.However, times have changed. For one thing, Americans are living longer, and life insurance rates reflect that increae. Insurance rates are one thing that may cost less than they did 10 years ago! Americans are also working longer, and many of us do not expect to retire at 65. Our kids do not always follow our financial schedule, and sometimes they still need help past the age we had planned on them being independent. And setbacks, like layoffs and home equity loans, may have kept home mortgages from getting paid off on that 15 or 30 year schedule we had planned on. Furthermore, many people reach retirement, and they realize the money that they worked so hard to save will not go as far as they had planned.So just because a term life insurance policy expired, our need for life insurance may not have expired at all. Baby boomers, and even senior citizens are still looking for life insurance policies. In fact, even though coverage is usually cheaper for younger people, it is when we reach middle age that we really start to realize the need for good coverage.However, top rated insurers keep track of all of these trends too, and they do offer affordable plans for people over 50, and I have even seen policies that accept people up to age 85. Elderly people may need to apply for whole life insurance, but there are term policies that accept applicants at 70 years of age.A 70 year old cannot expect to find a 30 year term policy, but a reasonably healthy retiree can find affordable 10 year policies. If 10 years is not enough, or a person suffers from some serious health conditions, a whole life insurance policy should be considered.Sometimes older people purchase their own policies because they want to plan for final expenses and estate transfers.