Consumer’s Health Insurance Blog

Get a Good Deal on Your Health Insurance Without Getting Ripped-Off named to "10 Must-have Investing and Insurance books"

"Dummies and Idiot’s guides may get you started in investing and help you understand the intricacies of your insurance policies, but these books are must-haves if you want to be an intelligent investor and consumer."    -     writes Dave Ralis of PhillyBurbs.com, the online version of the Bucks County Courier Times, who placed Get a Good Deal on Your Health Insurance Without Getting Ripped-Off on his list of "10 Must-have Investing and Insurance Books". 

Jonathan Pletzke is a consumer expert on health insurance and author of the health insurance book Get a Good Deal on Your Health Insurance Without Getting Ripped-Off, available online and at bookstores nationally. Additional details can be found at the consumers health insurance book and resources website www.BestHealthInsuranceBook.com. Copyright 2007-2008 Aji Publishing.

Tags:   Book Review · Health Insurance · Health Insurance Book · Must-have booksNo Comments.

Another 5 Star Review for “Get a Good Deal on Your Health Insurance Without Getting Ripped-Off” was posted recently at the Retire Early Home Page, one of the most interesting and useful sites for people interested in what it really takes to retire early. John P. Greaney, who successfully retired early at a young age, has very useful information covering all aspects of early retirement.

Jonathan Pletzke is a consumer expert on health insurance and author of the health insurance book Get a Good Deal on Your Health Insurance Without Getting Ripped-Off, available online and at bookstores nationally. Additional details can be found at the consumers health insurance book and resources website www.BestHealthInsuranceBook.com. Copyright 2007-2008 Aji Publishing.

Tags:   Book Review · Early Retirement · Health Insurance · Health Insurance BookNo Comments.

Listen to a brief audio clip from an appearance on FM Talk 101 with Brad and Britt in the morning.

The format of the program was an introduction of Jonathan and the health insurance book Get a Good Deal on Your Health Insurance Without Getting Ripped-Off, followed by discussion with the hosts about the health insurance book, and then to the callers, who provided questions that Jonathan was able to answer well.

Jonathan Pletzke is a consumer expert on health insurance and author of the health insurance book Get a Good Deal on Your Health Insurance Without Getting Ripped-Off, available online and at bookstores nationally. Additional details can be found at the consumers health insurance book and resources website www.BestHealthInsuranceBook.com. Copyright 2007-2008 Aji Publishing.

 

 Health Insurance Book Appearance on FM Talk 101: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Tags:   · Health Insurance · Health Insurance Book · mp3 · radio2 Comments

The latest Cavalcade of Risk blog carnival is lovely. It is hosted this time by I’ve Paid For This Twice Already and includes some excellent reads on risk (health insurance being my favorite). My blog posting on health insurance copayments is included.

Jonathan Pletzke is a consumer expert on health insurance and author of the health insurance book Get a Good Deal on Your Health Insurance Without Getting Ripped-Off, available online and at bookstores nationally. Additional details can be found at the consumers health insurance book and resources website www.BestHealthInsuranceBook.com. Copyright 2007-2008 Aji Publishing.

Tags:   Cavalcade of RiskNo Comments.

Today’s post about hip replacement surgery reminded me of the huge difference in money, time, and anguish that can occur when a hip replacement is needed. We had a family member who has had a hip replaced in the “regular” way - with months of rehab, following a few weeks in the hospital. Had we known in advance about procedures like the one mentioned in the InsureBlog post “Nice joint. Thanks, I’m hip.”, our family member would have saved months of recovery, thousands of dollars in hospital costs, and been back on her feet in days, back at work.

When looking at the cost of health insurance and procedures, we often overlook the non-covered costs to the patient and family, which can sometimes exceed the costs of the procedure. Being out of work for months, needing additional care at home (or in a facility), and the physical pain and accompanying mental anguish are large costs, too. If you are in the market for a hip replacement, or know someone who might, shop around for different doctors and different approaches. There might be a huge difference.

And while I don’t know alternative treatments for many other maladies, there have got to be some other big ones, such as the difference between back surgery versus chiropractic or osteopathic medicine.

Jonathan Pletzke is a consumer expert on health insurance and author of the health insurance book Get a Good Deal on Your Health Insurance Without Getting Ripped-Off, available online and at bookstores nationally. Additional details can be found at the consumers health insurance book and resources website www.BestHealthInsuranceBook.com. Copyright 2007-2008 Aji Publishing.

Tags:   anguish · health insurance cost · hip replacement · money · timeNo Comments.

It took me some time to figure out that a Health Wonk is a Health Policy Commentator, and this week the Health Business Blog hosts the Health Wonk Review, which includes folks saying what the candidates should be thinking about regarding health policy, including health insurance. You’ll notice my post Two Specific Areas for Improvement in U.S. Healthcare is included, along with some other interesting insights. Go read the posts!

Jonathan Pletzke is a consumer expert on health insurance and author of the health insurance book Get a Good Deal on Your Health Insurance Without Getting Ripped-Off, available online and at bookstores nationally. Additional details can be found at the consumers health insurance book and resources website www.BestHealthInsuranceBook.com. Copyright 2007-2008 Aji Publishing.

Tags:   blog carnival · health business blog · health wonk reviewNo Comments.

The latest cavalcade of risk (#44) bi-weekly carnival  of risk related blog posts is up at The Digerati Life. Check out what’s happening in the world of risk management, insurance, and the like.

Jonathan Pletzke is a consumer expert on health insurance and author of the health insurance book Get a Good Deal on Your Health Insurance Without Getting Ripped-Off, available online and at bookstores nationally. Additional details can be found at the consumers health insurance book and resources website www.BestHealthInsuranceBook.com. Copyright 2007-2008 Aji Publishing.

Tags:   blog carnival · Cavalcade of RiskNo Comments.

Why did I just get a “clarifications and changes” document in the mail yesterday, when the effective date on the “clarifications and changes” was 28 days prior, and the date that the information was prepared is listed as 7/07? Shouldn’t I have gotten the information sooner? What if I had made a claim in the new year, but didn’t receive the changes until today? It’s not as though the insurer didn’t have the changes - they probably filed them with the State of North Carolina in July of ‘07.

My preference would be to get the changes a month or two before they became effective, so that if I had any issue I could take action and make changes. Fortunately the changes won’t impact us, but it would have been nice to be notified ahead of time.

Jonathan Pletzke is a consumer expert on health insurance and author of the health insurance book Get a Good Deal on Your Health Insurance Without Getting Ripped-Off, available online and at bookstores nationally. Additional details can be found at the consumers health insurance book and resources website www.BestHealthInsuranceBook.com. Copyright 2007-2008 Aji Publishing.

Tags:   Health Insurance · HSA · policy changesNo Comments.

As unbelievable as it sounds, some HealthPartners employees are talking about striking over *their* health insurance benefits, as I found at the Minneapolis Saint Paul Business Journal and Pioneer Press. At issue is the need for employees to pay a portion of their medical premium, and a change in the way prescriptions are paid.

Obvious to management is that the costs associated with the group have gone up due to the utilization of medicine, but apparently that same point of view is not shared by the workers. What can management do? They can cave in to the demands of the workers, and find another way to pay the difference: by increasing costs, and premiums to create a larger margin in operations to cover the costs.

But, you may ask, what about corporate profits, and those blood-suckers who run the insurance side of HealthPartners? HealthPartners is the largest consumer-governed, nonprofit health care organization in the nation.

Jonathan Pletzke is a consumer expert on health insurance and author of the health insurance book Get a Good Deal on Your Health Insurance Without Getting Ripped-Off, available online and at bookstores nationally. Additional details can be found at the consumers health insurance book and resources website www.BestHealthInsuranceBook.com. Copyright 2007-2008 Aji Publishing.

Tags:   co-payments · Health Insurance · strike · twin cities1 Comment

I just came across a report on the UPI Newswire where information about a study titled “Co-payments as low as $12 deter women from getting mammograms” by Dr. Amal Trivedi. According to this article, the study found that 8% less women were having their annual mammogram when the copayment was $12 versus when there was no copayment at all. I’d need to look at the study further to know whether the populations of women were socio-economically, geographically, and industry neutral, because I can see a lot of differences in attitude based on these factors.

What I think the important message is from the study, regardless of any population related skewing, is that people will skip having preventative medical screenings if there is a cost. This confirms what other studies have said about people without health insurance postponing care until disease has progressed very far, and therefore having a lower chance of a successful recovery.

What does this say for HSA’s? Do people with High Deductible Health Plans (HDHP) that don’t offer covered wellness features have a lower chance of beating serious disease? Is the problem with delivery of health services for what appears to be a very low price? Perhaps we should focus on other reasons that people would avoid an uncomfortable health screening besides cost. What about not having evening and weekend hours? Or a clinic nearby? I bet that we’d find noticeable percentages in these factors, too. Maybe the provider offerings available in different plans would also make a difference in the rate at which people went. Choosing between an unpleasant clinic and a nice one might also make a difference.

I welcome more studies along these lines. We can have the greatest health care available, but if people don’t take advantage of it, for even $12, we have a problem.

Jonathan Pletzke is a consumer expert on health insurance and author of the health insurance book Get a Good Deal on Your Health Insurance Without Getting Ripped-Off, available online and at bookstores nationally. Additional details can be found at the consumers health insurance book and resources website www.BestHealthInsuranceBook.com. Copyright 2007-2008 Aji Publishing.

Tags:   co-payments · HDHP · Health Insurance · HSA · mammograms2 Comments