Where To Buy Ohio Health Insurance Plans

Original post from: Ohio Health Insurance Quotes

So you need to buy an Ohio health insurance plan. You want an affordable high quality policy at the lowest available rate. But where do you buy it?

The best source for buying an Ohio health insurance plan is Ohioquotes.com. Recognized as Ohio’s premier resource for Ohio health care, you can instantly view, compare and apply for high quality health insurance plans.

But perhaps most importantly, when you buy your health insurance, your personal information is never sold or released to any other person or company. Unfortunately, many online health quoting websites sell your information to multiple brokers throughout the US. This leads to incessant emails and phone calls for many months.

Ohioquotes.com also guarantees that your Ohio health insurance premium will be the lowest available rate allowed by the state. Rates in Ohio are mandated, so when you buy your policy, it is impossible for any other site to charge a lower rate. All major companies are researched for you, including Anthem Blue Cross, Aetna, United HealthCare and Aetna.

Each year, when your policy renews, you’ll receive a copy of the current Ohio health insurance rates from the other major carriers. So, if your premium starts to rapidly increase, you’ll be able to buy a similar policy at an affordable rate (Assuming no major change in health).

For a free instant health insurance quote, simply click on the “Get Instant Quote” button at the top of the page.

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Ohio Individual Health Insurance Update

Original post from: Ohio Health Insurance Quotes

Ohio individual health insurance plans have a new addition!

Anthem Blue Cross has introduced its “SmartSense” plans, an affordable alternative to its more expensive “Premier” plan. Three PCP/Specialist office visits are covered with a $35 copay. A deductible applies to any remaining office visit.

Generic formulary, plus limited number of brand-name drugs are subject to a $15 copay or 60%, whichever is higher. Non-formulary prescription drugs are not covered.

Most Ohio individual health insurance plans include some adult preventative coverage. The “SmartSense” plan, unfortunately, only covers Mammography and Pap Tests after the deductible. Child preventative services are covered after the deductible.

For additional details, please call us at (888) 513-6446 or email service@ohioquotes.com

Instant Ohio individual health insurance quotes are available by clicking the “Get Instant Quote” button at the top of this page.

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What Do You Do If You Lose Your Job?

Original post from: Ohio Health Insurance Quotes

If you live in Ohio and have recently lost your job…you’re not alone. The state has lost more than 260,000 jobs since 2000, about 5 percent of all jobs. The hardest hit areas have been Trumbull County, losing 20.5 percent of its jobs, and Montgomery County, losing 14.1% of its jobs.

President Barack Obama’s health care ideas are now facing delay, when Tom Daschle, who was chosen to head the initiative, suddenly withdrew his nomination for the health secretary position. Health care reform has taken a back seat to more important matters…such as the failing economy and helping auto manufacturers and some financial institutions.

If you find yourself out of a job, between jobs, or your employer is reducing your hours, your health insurance may be affected.  In many cases, your current coverage extends for a few months (or less), and then the search for an affordable Ohio health insurance plan begins. But there are many affordable options, including those persons with serious health conditions.

Cobra is one option. Under this program, Ohio workers laid off from companies with 20 or more employees can extend their employee-provided health insurance for 18 months. Of course…premiums are often extremely expensive. And with the current recession and no end in sight, Cobra’s premiums are not a viable health insurance option for many Ohioians.

However, if you have no significant medical issues, such as cancer, diabetes or heart disease, you may qualify for an individual Ohio health insurance policy. The application process is simple and physicals are rarely required. The most popular Ohio companies are Anthem Blue Cross, UnitedHealthCare, Medical Mutual, Humana and Aetna.

For example, in Franklin County, a nonsmoking family of four (Parents-Age 40 & Children-Ages 8 & 10), with no medical issues, can buy a “catastrophic health” plan for about $140 per month. A “comprehensive” plan, which offers many more coverages, would cost between $250 and $330 per month, depending on the major medical deductible.

 Naturally, rates will be substantially less if only one person is insured. Also, existing medical conditions can raise the rate. With your own policy, your coverage is portable, so you may keep the policy as long as you want. Also…with individual coverage, unlike group coverage, your rate is not affected by a large amount of unhealthy persons in the group.

Ohioquotes.com offers free quote comparisons and you never pay any fees for using our website. Feel free to contact us or use the quote engine which gives you instant rates.

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Online Ohio Health Insurance Quotes

Original post from: Ohio Health Insurance Quotes

Did you really go online and request an Ohio health insurance quote? Well…let me guess what happened. You received 26 phone calls the first day, and about 15 calls every day for two weeks. If you went on multiple websites, you may still be getting calls!

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Low Cost Ohio Health Insurance Plans

Original post from: Ohio Health Insurance Quotes

There are many low cost Ohio health insurance plans that have premiums 15%-40% less than the typical standard plan. Coverages are often quite rich and the underwriting criteria is identical to all other plans.

Generally, the major differences between the most expensive plans and the “low cost” plans are the out of pocket expenses on major claims and the number of allowed office visits per year. Also, non-generic prescriptions may be limited or not covered under the low cost plans.

For example, the current monthly rate for a 40-year old male in Warren County is between $90 and $120 per month. Unlimited office visits and comprehensive prescription coverage is common on these types of policies.

But if price is the top priority, here are five low-cost Ohio health insurance options:

$50 Aetna’s Preventative and Hospital Care plan. Limited office visit coverage with good preventative features

$60 Aetna’s PPO Value 5000 plan. Limited office visit coverage with some prescription coverage included.

$68 Anthem’s Blue Access Value plan. Limited office visit coverage with some prescription coverage included.

$69 UnitedHealthCare’s Copay Select plan. Unlimited office visit coverage with comprehensive prescription coverage. $7500 deductible on major items.

$78 Aetna’s PPO 5000 plan. Unlimited office visit coverage with comprehensive prescription coverage.

All of these options are low cost Ohio health insurance plans issued by major reputable companies. There are never any application or enrollment fees and physicals are rarely required.

To instantly view and compare different plans, please click on the “Get Instant Quote” button at the top of the page.

UPDATE May 2011-  It’s hard to believe that I wrote that article 3 1/2 years ago. Time does fly! Many of the plans mentioned in this article have changed or are no longer available. For example, Anthem’s Value plan is not offered.  But there are still many affordable plans that are rich in coverage.

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Cinergy Health Insurance…Worth Your Time And Money?

Original post from: Ohio Health Insurance Quotes

Cinergy Health doesn”t seem to do as much advertising these days. No, they don’t pitch OxiClean or Mighty Putty, but Cinergy does heavily market their medical plans.

Are they worth it? In most cases…No! In fact, unless you thoroughly read the fine print of your policy, you may be in for a jolt!

Available Cinergy Plans

Two types of plans are available. “Cinergy Health Signature” is their discount health plan and “Cinergy Health Preferred” is their insurance plan. Both plans offer far less coverage than a conventional Ohio health insurance policy from a major insurer…such as Blue Cross, Aetna or UnitedHealthCare.

“Cinergy Health Signature” is NOT an health insurance policy. It may help you reduce some of your healthcare costs, but not necessarily a significant amount. Coverage benefits are very vague and the premium for a single person is almost $1000 per year. And, the plans are actually provided by Patriot Health Florida, who requires you to PAY FOR ALL HEALTHCARE SERVICES in advance. Later, you may receive a discount on some of those expenses.

“Cinergy Health Preferred 500” is considered an insurance plan, but coverages are limited and descriptions of these coverages are fairly vague on their website. For example, this plan only covers ONE emergency room visit per year. Only ONE preventative visit per year is allowed. Daily hospital confinement charges are also limited to $500 per day and 30 days per year.

The Cost

If you can qualify for an Ohio Health Insurance Plan from a major carrier, then don’t waste your time with this carrier. If you are uninsurable, then you may want to consider a plan…but read the policy in its entirety. Cinergy will only consider refund requests in writing and will not refund the application fee.

Affordable Ohio health insurance is available. To instantly view and compare high quality Ohio health plans, please click on the “Get Instant Quote” button at the top of the page. You can get comprehensive coverage without breaking the bank.

UPDATE April 2011- I don””t see as much advertising from Cinergy three years after I wrote the original article. Their “Limited Health Benefit” plan might be worth considering if you are uninsurable. But keep in mind that the plan is NOT a major medical insurance plan and is not to be used to replace a catastrophic policy.

Cinergy Ohio health insurance should not be used to replace major medical or catastrophic health insurance policies. View affordable alternative Ohio plans.

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Family Health Insurance in Ohio…McCain or Obama?

Original post from: Ohio Health Insurance Quotes

Tough choice. If you”re an Ohio resident and health insurance coverage is one of your key concerns, there are many factors to consider.

Obama’s plan would have the government take a stronger role in reducing the number of uninsured Americans.

McCain’s proposal would tax workers for the value of their employer-provided health plan, at the same time giving tax credits of $2,500 to single people and of $5,000 to families. The idea is for the employees to use the money to buy individual health insurance plans.

 A Female Perspective

Speaking from the Ladies” Gallery in the Ohio Statehouse, Nikki Rigano, a worker at the New Albany Kroger and member of UFCW Local 1059, had this to say about Senator McCain”s health care proposals:

“Senator McCain”s plan to establish a brand new ”health tax” would be irresponsible during the best of times, but during an economic crisis it threatens the well-being of middle-class families everywhere. Instead of creating new taxes, he should be helping hard-working Americans keep the tools they need to stay healthy. Putting affordable, quality health coverage out of reach for more than 900,000 Ohioans is simply not an acceptable option.”

I don”t accept Rigano”s notion, and in fact believe McCain”s plan will help more Ohioans with their health insurance than Obama”s plan. 

More than 1.2 million Ohioans currently have no health insurance and one million more are under-insured. These figures are hardly surprising, considering Ohio health insurance premiums have risen more than 250% since 2000.  According to a recent report by the Center for American Progress, a middle-class Ohio family could expect to pay an extra $900 in McCain”s “health tax” by 2013, and 920,000 would lose coverage altogether under his plan.

However, the nonpartisan Factcheck.org has said this assertion is false. Factcheck.org is a project of the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania. Its mission is to monitor the validity of political advertising and rhetoric so that voters will be able to make a more informed choice at the polls.

 False Claims

“The Obama-Biden ad falsely claims McCain says he wants to “do the same to our health care” that “Wall Street deregulation” has done to the banking industry,” Factcheck.org said in its analysis.

According to them, the ad takes a phrase out of context from an article Sen. McCain wrote in the September/October issue of “Contingencies,” a journal of the American Academy of Actuaries.

The full quote provides the context. What Sen. McCain is talking about is permitting people to buy health insurance across state lines – a practice currently not permitted.

Sen. McCain wrote, “I would also allow individuals to choose to purchase health insurance across state lines, when they can find more affordable and attractive products elsewhere … Opening up the health insurance market to more vigorous nationwide competition, as we have done over the last decade in banking, would provide more choices of innovative products less burdened by the worst excesses of state-based regulation. Consumer-friendly insurance policies will be more available and affordable.”

  Buying Insurance Across State Lines 

  Sen. McCain”s proposal echos what insurance industry analysts have been saying for years. Currently, the residents of each state can only buy insurance from companies operating in that state. Industry analysts say that benefits mandated by legislators, which have little to do with consumers, drive up costs.

For example, families in New Jersey, which mandates more benefits than Pennsylvania, such as infertility, a family plan can cost $1,652 per month, while a family can buy a plan in Pennsylvania for $707 per month. Critics point out 60-year-olds have little need for infertility benefits.

For your personalized Ohio health insurance quote, visit http://www.ohioquotes.com or email eharris@ohioquotes.com 

UPDATE: March 2011. Well…I guess we know who won the election. Obamacare has been passed but it appears the Supreme Court will rule its legality in 2012. I believe we need reform, but Obamacare may not be the answer. Stay tuned.

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Ohio Health Insurance Coverage

Original post from: Ohio Health Insurance Quotes

Comprehensive coverage. Catastrophic coverage.  If you”re a consumer shopping for individual or family health insurance, rates are perhaps the most important factor. But policy coverages are a key component, and ultimately, often determine which company is chosen.

To help you identify some of the differences in coverage, I have provided a list of some of the most common Ohio health insurance plans, and what type of coverage they offer. The list is not all-inclusive.

Comprehensive Plans

Anthem Blue Access Plan 2

Aetna PPO

UnitedHealthCare Copay Select

UnitedHealthCare MedOnePlus

UnitedHealthCare Plan 100

Medical Mutual SuperMed One Standard

Celtic Preferred Select

Humana Portrait

Catastrophic Plans

UnitedHealthCare Saver80

UnitedHealthCare HSA Saver

Combination Plans (Catastrophic with some office visit or RX coverage)

Anthem Blue Access Value

Anthem Blue Access Economy

Aetna PPO Value

Aetna P&H Care

UnitedHealthCare Saver

Medical Mutual SuperMedOne Value

Humana Autograph

Celtic Basic

For more specific rates and information and an instant Ohio health insurance quote, please visit http://www.ohioquotes.com or http://www.majormedicalhealth.com

November 2010 Update- Some of these plans are not offered, so it”s best to request a new quote at the top of the page.  -Ed

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Ohio Health Insurance Premiums…Going Up

Original post from: Ohio Health Insurance Quotes

Escalating health insurance premiums for Ohio workers have outstripped pay increases since 2000, growing at a rate nearly nine times as fast as wages.

 

 

The average cost to workers for a family insurance plan grew more than 80 percent from 2000 to 2007. Wages during the same time rose just 8.9 percent, according to a study by Families USA.

The nonprofit national health advocacy organization analyzed data from the U.S. Census Bureau, the U.S. Department of Labor and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for the study.

 

Good News

 

The good news, is that Ohio individual health insurance rates, when compared to other states, are still low.

Of course, there are still many Ohio residents without medical coverage. A solid majority of Ohioans feel so strongly that all Americans should have health care that they are willing to experience some pain themselves — in the wallet.

Fifty-six percent in a Columbus Dispatch Poll say expanded health care accompanied by higher taxes is preferable to lower taxes with fewer people covered.

 

Health Care Spending

 

At an estimated $2.4 trillion this year, costs of the U.S. health-care industry have doubled in the last decade, increasing scrutiny and demands for efficiency in both the private and public sectors. Total spending on health care could increase from 16 percent of the gross domestic product last year to a quarter in 2025 — and nearly a half by 2082, predicts the Congressional Budget Office.

Affordable Ohio health insurance plans are still available. The premier source for Ohio health insurance quotes is still http://www.ohioquotes.com

 

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Ohio Health Insurance Plans (Health Savings Accounts)

Original post from: Ohio Health Insurance Quotes

What is a Health Savings Account (“HSA”)?

A Health Savings Account is an alternative to traditional health insurance; it is a savings product that offers a alternative way for consumers to pay for their health care. HSAs enable you to pay for current health expenses and save for future qualified medical and retiree health expenses on a tax-free basis.

Don

You must be covered by a High Deductible Health Plan (HDHP) to be able to take advantage of HSAs. An HDHP generally costs less than what traditional health care coverage costs, so the money that you save on insurance can therefore be put into the Health Savings Account.

Many Ohio insurance companies offer HSAs.  Anthem and UnitedHealthCare may be the best options while Medical Mutual and Aetna are also companies to consider.

What Is a “High Deductible Health Plan” (HDHP)?
You must have an HDHP if you want to open an HSA. Sometimes referred to as a “catastrophic” health insurance plan, an HDHP is an inexpensive health insurance plan that generally doesn’t pay for the first several thousand dollars of health care expenses  (i.e., your “deductible”) but will generally cover you after that .  Of course, your HSA is available to help  pay for the expenses your plan does not cover. A wide range of deductibles is available…generally between $1500 and $10,000.

How can I get a Health Savings Account?

Ohio residents can visit http://www.ohioquotes.com for an instant free quote. Out-of-state residents can visit http://www.majormedicalhealth.com. These are two of the most comprehensive health insurance websites available to the public. And yes…I am a bit biased!

How much does an HSA cost?
An HSA is not something you purchase; it’s a savings account into which you can deposit money on a tax-preferred basis.  The only product you purchase with an HSA is a High Deductible Health Plan, an inexpensive plan that will cover you should your medical expenses exceed the funds you have in your HSA. The two websites listed in the prior paragraph will provide you with immediate rates.

November 2011 Update- HSAs are still popular. Medical Mutual, Anthem and UnitedHealthCare are still the best options here in Ohio.

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