Life Insurance Realities

If you don't have some amount of life insurance, you are making a huge mistake! Here are some things to consider about life insurance:

• Do you have a home with a mortgage? If so, who is stuck with the mortgage payment if you die?
• The average cost of a funeral with burial is $11,000. How will that be paid?
• Any outstanding debt like car payments, credit cards or other bills? How are they getting paid?
• If you have young children, how will your spouse afford child care to get out and work? Guys, you should think about this if your wife dies! She needs life insurance too!
• Something we don't want to think about, but what happens if one of your children dies? How will you take care of the arrangements?

Let's face it...unless your name is Lazarus, we all die. The problem is that we don't know when! You may be healthy as a mule and still have an unfortunate and unexpected event or accident happen to you!

Controlling Health Insurance Costs

If you are like me, you probably see an increase in your health insurance costs each year. If you are at your wits end on trying to figure out how to keep affording your health insurance each year, here are some tips to lower your monthly bill:

• The simplest cost save is raising your policy deductible. If you can absorb more costs yourself before your insurance kicks in, you will lower your premium. Plus, every insurance company, without exception, will increase your deductible without any questions. Ask your agent to find out how much premium you can save by raising your deductible.
• Don't take a doctor office visit copay. This holdover from group insurance days is the most misunderstood "benefit" in insurance. If you didn't realize it, copays cost you premium every month, whether you use the benefit or not. If you have small children (6 or under), a copay may make sense. If your kids are older or you don't have children and don't go to the doctor often, your paying for something you don't use each month. A copay only gets you from the waiting room to the examination room. Any tests done are subject to deductibles and coinsurance. Why spend $60 a month to pay for an office visit of $80 once a year?
• Consider a health savings account (HSA). If you don't know what this is, an HSA is a large deductible insurance product tied to a health savings account. The money that you put in to the account is tax deductible similar to an IRA. If you use it for approved medical expenses, no taxes. If you take it out for other reasons, you pay a penalty. Plus any interest you make on the account is tax deferred.*
• If you have a prescription plan, ask the cash price at the pharmacy or try and get a generic equivalent at Wal-mart or similar for $4. If your copay for prescriptions is $15 generic, some plans will charge you $15 even if the cash price is less!

By no means is this a complete list. If you want to find more ways to save on your health insurance premiums, contact your insurance agent.

* Before you opt for an HSA plan, get information about the product you are considering and review it with a licensed tax professional to discuss the specifics about the tax benefits of the particular product offering.

Medicare General Enrollment Period

If you weren't aware, it's Medicare General Enrollment Period. Each year from January 1-March 31, Medicare enrollees may make certain changes to the products they have purchased to supplement the original Medicare program. There are specific options available to you during this period to purchase or replace Medicare products such as prescription drug plans, Medicare advantage plans, and more.

If you aren't sure what you can or can't do, contact a licensed Medicare insurance agent or go to CMS to get more information about Medicare options available to you.

Welcome to In The Know About Insurance

Welcome! This blog is dedicated to helping answer questions you have about personal insurance products such as health, life, disability and long term care insurance. We will also try and offer information on Medicare products available for seniors.

Please feel free to post comments or questions for us to try and help you resolve.

Ok, here is my disclaimer:

*DISCLAIMER* I AM A LICENSED INSURANCE PROFESSIONAL IN PENNSYLVANIA FOR ALL LINES AND PROPERTY/CASUALTY IN NEW JERSEY. IF WE GIVE YOU ANY ANSWER TO A QUESTION, WE STRONGLY ENCOURAGE YOU TO REVIEW YOUR SPECIFIC INSURANCE CONTRACT TO REVIEW ANY EXCLUSIONS OR LIMITATIONS IN YOUR PARTICULAR POLICY!