The Advantages and Disadvantages of a Health Spending Account

Nowadays, a lot of people are more concerned about their health than anything else. They are more careful in choosing the foods they eat because of the fact that most diseases nowadays involve in the lifestyle of man. Well, some people are also practicing a work-home routine to avoid any accidents that might happen to them when they are outside of their house. But sometimes, some unexpected things really do happen and having a health spending account is the best option that you could get.

Sure you can get a traditional health insurance plan where you pay each month and your employer may even cover some or all of this type of plan. With these traditional health insurance plans there are certain requirements and restrictions. For example, there are certain requirements that you need to follow for you to become eligible. A qualified applicant must be 65 years old and below and have a high-deductible health insurance plan. The plan should only be your insurance coverage as well, if you are covered by any other health insurance plans, then you do not pass their requirements. That includes health insurance plans for vision, dental and long term care. These plans typically only cover 80% of traditional health expenses, such as medical and dental visits. You are responsible for paying out of pocket for the rest. Non traditional health expenses such as massage therapy, Chiropractic care, dental surgery, private health clinics, etc are not even covered.

As an employee, the advantages of having a HSA are that you have full control to the money that you will be spending. A certain amount of money is set aside by your employer in your HSA to be used as you deem fit to cover a large variety of routine health care expenses for you, your spouse, or your dependents. From the employer perspective this is a valued and economical way to provide tax free health benefits to employees, and all the money invested by the employer is 100% tax deductible (including any fees). With this result, still a lot of people prefer to have HSA because everyone has different health needs and no one should be able to dictate that only traditional types of health treatments are right? Owning or managing a business sometimes means you need to travel to other provinces in Canada, or to other countries to do business. An HAS gives you the flexibility to travel and still obtain coverage for the type of health treatments that are most relevant for you. As long as the health practitioner is licensed in the location you happen to be in, you can rest assured things will be covered. An HAS is an ideal small business health plan. It doesn't matter what type of business you own, as long as you are a Canadian incorporated business, Although an HSA is good at covering a large variety of routine health care costs, it is not provide an insurance component to cover accidents or medical emergencies, although you can purchase a fixed term travel insurance plan and run this through your HSA. If you require true accidental or emergency coverage then there are plenty of options out there to investigate, including a stripped down traditional health insurance plan, or visiting one of many financial institutions who provide this type of emergency coverage

3 Reasons Why Healthcare Organizations Insist On HIPAA Certification

HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) Privacy Rule protects the private health information of patients and takes action when any complaint regarding this is made against a healthcare provider or healthcare plan. In case the organization is found to be in the wrong, they risk facing serious penalties. Sharing patient information with unauthorized individuals is a violation of the HIPAA law and can result in imprisonment and/or heavy fines. HIPAA violation has strict consequences and thus is it essential for healthcare organizations to become certified. Getting a HIPAA certification is not a complicated process and is essential for the proper functioning of the organization.

Becoming HIPAA certified involves attending certain courses and then undertaking exams at the end. The courses are designed to help you understand HIPAA requirements and perform all the processes and procedures of being HIPAA compliant. When you finish the course and pass the exam you will receive a completion certificate to prove you have undergone training and are knowledgeable about HIPAA laws.

Here are 3 reasons why HIPAA certification is a must for healthcare organizations:

• Covered organizations require their employees to be HIPAA certified. This is a simple process, especially if you decide to complete the training online. Online training classes are available throughout the day and can be done in your free time from home. Sometimes your employer may arrange training for a number of employees together. Either ways, it is essential for a healthcare employee to know the policies and procedures related to HIPAA.

• If you do not comply with HIPAA guidelines you may face serious penalties. In order to know and comply with all the regulations properly, you need to attend a certification course. Delaying your certification could cost you a lot more than money. The penalty for non-compliance can be severe depending on the case. You may be fined huge sums of money or may even be imprisoned for 5 years. In order to avoid such hassles in your profession, it is better to become HIPAA certified. Repeated violations of HIPAA laws may also lead to the healthcare organization and employee losing their license to practice.

• HIPAA training for healthcare employees is a federal law. According to the law, healthcare employees who deal with medical records of patients must be trained appropriately. This is to protect confidential medical information from getting into the wrong hands. Patients have rights over their own medical information, and will trust only those employees who know how to keep their records safe from the public. Only a trained employee will understand the importance of patient privacy and strive to maintain it.

Thus you see why healthcare care organizations insist on their employees being HIPAA certified. If you are looking for a job in the healthcare field, taking the course can increase your chances of getting the job. The course is available on the internet and you will have your certificate in hand in just a few clicks. The training is inexpensive and totally worth it

Privacy Policy for http://lovemancing.blogspot.com/

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What Is a HIPAA?

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) of the United States designed a website that would help the public understand more about Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act or better known as HIPAA. The HHS website provides a variety of training materials about the purpose and essence of the Act. Also stressed in the site material is the background of the Act. For a better understanding of HIPAA, read on.

Historical Background

Modern technology has a big potential to interfere with the confidentiality of patient's health information. That is why: HIPAA was enacted as a Public Law 104-191 in 1996 with objective to provide security against the misuse of patient's information that is held confidential. HIPAA requires HHS to implement U.S. National standards for health care transactions done via the internet. This particular law also points out that certain people giving health care services should undergo and complete a HIPAA Training Course. Also included in the training are the HIPAA organizational policies, protection of information as well as security awareness. Among the people who need to take a HIPAA course are nurses, doctors, pharmacists, researchers and those others who are working in the hospitals.

Significance of the Act

The Office of Civil Rights is the one who provides all the needed materials for the learning more about the Act. It is also the Civil Rights Office who supplies a complete outline of the principles as well as the full summary of the provisions of the Privacy Rule. The information about the administrative requirements needed in the workforce is also provided by the office. The office, however, does not provide a step by step training for the government. The good thing is that updates are being done as often as needed so the public could know of the HIPAA modifications made in the most recent time.

Education about the Act

Business owners may also offer some educational HIPAA information. The focus, though, of educational HIPAA data is how employers should handle the privacy of the health information of their employees. The policies of HIPAA are likewise outlined in the info that is shared, most often. Moreover, the material also includes proper ways and procedures to handle confidential information to be able to realize the protection required by the law.

Computer Training

One other effective media used to share information and to make HIPAA training available to the public is via computer training. If, for instance, a private entity needs to save and exchange private medical information through the computer system, certain requirements need to be fulfilled as mandated by HIPAA. Say, for example, keeping the computer system locked and password enabled or perhaps keeping the computer files accessible to only a few people. With this particular measure, employers may give computer training to staff members who have direct access to the computer system.

Every patient's information should be properly and closely protected. In order to know more about HIPAA and in order not to violate any of the rules stated in the private law, a thorough understanding about HIPAA law is needed

Do You Need Travel Health Insurance?

Do you travel frequently overseas? Do you plan trips and holidays with your family year after year? In case, your answer is in a 'yes' in most cases mentioned above, you should consider a travel health insurance policy.

A travel health insurance policy is a type of cover that provides the insurance holder, health insurance coverage during traveling, especially in a foreign country. Here, the insured is required to pay an amount known as the premium stipulated by the travel insurance company to avail benefits.

Usually, the coverage provides compensation for medical costs incurred by the insured during travel. In some special cases, the insurance policy also covers for medical evacuation.

A travel health insurance policy comes in combination with the following expenses coverage.

a) Trip cancellation insurance

b) Trip interruption insurance

c) Travel accident insurance

d) Travel baggage loss insurance

e) Travel emergency evacuation insurance

f) Travel medical expenses insurance

Usually the premium for travel health insurance amounts to $200 on an annual basis. However, the premium you pay towards your travel health insurance policy also depends a lot on your age, the distance of trip, any preexisting health conditions, cost of trip and the nation to which trip is being made. Some special travel insurance plans also cover accidental deaths and flight accidental death.

The travel health insurance plans that cover the medical costs of your trip will include cost of treatment, medical expenses, cost of medicines and dental expenses. These covers are available with many conditions. For instance, if you take medicines from unconventional medical sources such as Ayurvedic treatment or acupuncturists, the health travel insurance company will not reimburse the money to you.

In case, you are already covered by a health insurance policy, it would be wise to check whether it covers outside the United States or whether it offers benefits only in case of emergencies.

Also check out whether your travel health insurance company provides you the benefit of medical evacuation cover. It is very important especially if you are planning to travel outside the country. Usually, a travel health insurance policy provides medical evacuation facility to nearest qualified medical health facility. Here, you would not be evaluated to the United States. You would be transferred to the nearest medical health facility. Hence, if you are traveling in an under developed country, you may have to settle for medical treatment at a health facility decided by the travel health insurance company and not by you.

Another cover provided by travel health insurance policy is the repatriation of mortal remains. In the event of death of the insurance holder, the travel health insurance company will bear the cost of returning the mortal remains of the insured. You should also carefully study some other conditions prior to deciding on for a particular travel health insurance policy. These conditions include the following:

a) Co-insurance

b) Deductibles

c) Exclusions

d) Benefit period

e) Pre-existing conditions.

Don't ignore travel health insurance. It will play a vital role in providing you peace of mind while traveling to a foreign country. You don't need to worry about medical expenses, hospital treatment and sudden illness expenditure while traveling.

You can save a lot of money on your medical expenses when traveling via a travel insurance policy. It is like hiring a qualified caretaker to see your safety while you travel

What Do to When Your Insurance Company Denies Your Claim

 A determination by your insurance company that you are not covered is not the final word, but only the beginning of a process for you to obtain the insurance coverage which you purchased. Upon further investigation, facts may come to light which may cause the insurance company to re-evaluate its position and provide coverage.

Also, if suit is necessary, the courts may find that you are covered by your insurance policy when your insurer says you are not covered.

The realities of insurance

Whether you are a business that purchased a commercial general liability insurance policy or an individual who purchases a homeowner's policy or a life insurance policy, "peace of mind" was probably a big selling point made by the selling insurance agent. In return for payment of money to the insurance company today, the insurance provider promises that it will be there for you in the future should you suffer a loss.

Unfortunately, many find that after having consistently paid their premiums, an insurance provider denies their claim when they call upon their insurance company for the coverage promised in the insurance policy. In many cases, the one who determines and advises you that your insurance policy does not provide coverage is not an attorney, but a claims adjuster without knowledge of Louisiana insurance law.

Should your insurance company deny you coverage, you should seek the advice of an attorney familiar with the interpretation of insurance policy language.

When doing so, you are obtaining the opinion of a person trained in insurance law and not employed by the insurance company. If your attorney's opinion is that you are entitled to coverage, the denial of your claim is the beginning of your claim's process, not the end.

Why insurers and the insured always seem to be at odds

As an insurance company is a business, and a goal of a business is to make a profit, it is understandable that an insurance company has a bias towards denying insurance coverage. However, this bias may not be the only reason for an insurance company denying coverage to its insured.

At the time that you prepare and submit your claim to your insurance company, you may not know all of the facts and the insurance adjuster may not know all of the facts particular to your situation. In this situation, an attorney can review the insurance provisions, discover the relevant facts that trigger coverage and transmit these facts to the insurance adjuster for a re-determination of coverage.

When problems with claims persist

If the adjuster continues to deny coverage in the face of the newly presented facts, your attorney will be able to further pursue and protect your interests by filing suit against the insurance company. In this suit, your attorney will ask the court to declare that you have coverage under your policy.

In some situations it is not the lack of knowledge of certain facts which cause the insurance adjuster to deny coverage, but the policy language as the policy language relevant to your claim may have acquired a legal meaning which is not apparent to the layman or the insurance adjuster upon reading of the policy. Again, your attorney will be able to explain to the insurance adjuster the legal meaning and ramifications of the policy language and how that meaning entitles you to coverage.

Should the adjuster continue to deny coverage in the face of such law, your attorney will be able to further pursue your interest by filing suit against the insurance company asking the court to determine that you are covered by your policy.

The above situations may be best explained by real life examples:

Family #1 - Accidental Death Claim

In a claim for accidental life insurance policy proceeds, an insurance company denied the claims of a parent for the death of their child, when that child died after losing control of a car he was driving. Scientific examination of blood samples showed trace amounts of a prescriptive medicine, a medicine which was not prescribed to the child.

The insurance company denied the claim upon the basis that the child was under the influence of a controlled substance, and coverage for such was excluded by the policy. The parents hired an attorney who reviewed the policy, reviewed the chemical analysis and obtained information from a forensic pathologist about the chemical analysis. The attorney's efforts proved that the amount of the controlled substance that appeared in the chemical analysis was the minimum amount which could be registered by the test, and that a test reading of this amount could mean that there was none of the controlled substance in the child's bloodstream.

End result -

Upon being presented with this information, the insurance company reversed its position, provided coverage, and paid the full amount of the accidental life insurance proceeds to the parents. This is an example where facts relevant to coverage where not apparent to the policy holder and the adjuster. An experienced attorney was required to discover the relevant facts and present them to the insurance company.

Family #2 - Life Insurance Disputes

In another situation, an insured was delivered an insurance policy while in the hospital. The insured was diagnosed with a terminal illness during this hospital stay and died soon after. The insurance company denied coverage claiming that the insured knew of the presence of this disease prior to delivery of the life insurance policy. The insured's surviving spouse obtained the services of an attorney and suit was filed.

End result-

This attorney conducted a thorough and exhaustive research of the deceased's medical records. This attorney discovered that the only evidence of the deceased having knowledge of a terminal illness occurred within one day after the life insurance policy was delivered. The attorney presented this information to the insurance company and the insurance company settled the law suit by paying benefits to the surviving spouse.

Business Scenario - Lawsuit protection

In another situation, a commercial business was sued for libel and slander. That commercial business had purchased a comprehensive general liability policy which provided coverage for attorney's fees and court costs in defending this claim. The insurer refused to provide coverage.

The business hired an attorney to defend the business in the libel and slander suit. That same attorney then sued the insurance company for reimbursement of the insured's attorney's fees and court costs incurred in defense of the libel and slander suit.

End result-

The result of this suit was that the court found that the insurance policy sold to the business provided coverage for a cost of defense and that the insurance company owed reimbursement to the business for the attorney's fees and costs it incurred in defending the suit. Interestingly, the insurance company owed this "cost of defense" whether the business won or lost the libel and slander suit filed against it.

There are many more examples in the law books where an insurance company denied insurance coverage to its insured, only to later be found by the courts to have provided coverage to its insured. Each case is different, and each case must be carefully examined.

Affordable Family Medical Insurance Starts With Healthy Living

Face it; health care is expensive - no matter how you slice it. Affordable family medical insurance is a need for so many people. One of the best ways you can keep your medical insurance rates lower is to stay as healthy as you possibly can. We offer these tips for maintaining your family's health, which will help you find and keep affordable medical insurance.
1. Don't smoke. Smoking is undoubtedly the number one health hazard today. Smokers get sick much more often than non-smokers do and are more likely to suffer from ongoing chronic illness and disease than non-smokers are. Smoking affects your entire body, including your heart, your circulation, your healing ability and time and a host of other health hazards. If you choose to do only one thing to improve your health, stop smoking today. There are a number of different smoking cessation tools and aids to help you quit - and you can get many of them free through various programs, most of which are sponsored by medical insurance companies. Do a web search for smoking cessation and find a program to help you quit smoking today. You'll also find more affordable health coverage and life insurance if you're a non-smoker with lower premiums and discounts available from many insurance companies.
2. Eat Right. You've heard it repeatedly, but watching your diet is one of the easiest ways to get healthier, which leads to more affordable health coverage. Include plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables - and plenty of variety. Not only will your plate look more attractive and appetizing with dark greens, deep oranges, reds, purples and yellows, you'll also be getting the widest variety of vitamins and antioxidants by switching things up. Cut the fat and you'll cut the cholesterol. Include lean meats, lots of fish and poultry and adding alternative proteins like legumes, soy and nuts. Drink your milk and add plenty of water to your diet. Limit your portions. Keep your blood sugar steady by eating five small meals throughout the day rather than three large ones. Allow yourself the occasional indulgence to avoid feeling deprived.
3. Move it or lose it - your health that is. As our lives get busier, we spend more time jumping in the car and rushing off to the next important thing we need to do. One of the best things you can do for your health and to maintain affordable health coverage costs is to incorporate more exercise into your daily routine. Take the stairs instead of the elevator. Park two blocks away and walk to your destination. Put on some music and dance. Ride bikes with your kids. Push a lawnmower instead of using the rider. Get out in the garden. Take a walk after supper. Bring a bag lunch of low-cal foods and use the rest of your lunch hour to take a stroll. There are many ways to add exercise into your daily routine, even if you don't have time to go to the gym. Start by adding one new habit each week until you've built in an additional 30 minutes of movement into your daily routine.

BestHealthcareRates.com has helped thousands of individuals, families & businesses find affordable medical insurance or family medical insurance BestHealthcareRates.com is Rated A+ by the Better Business Bureau's "Online Reliability Program".