One concern with attempting to use your own private insurance to pay for a work-related maritime injury relates to the language of your insurance policy. Many private health insurance policies contain language which states that the policy does not provide coverage for a work-related injury. Very often maritime employers will request or even instruct an injured employee to use their own private health insurance to pay for medical treatment relating to a work injury. If the employee does not fully describe to his doctors that his injury occurred at work, sometimes the employer will later claim that the employee was essentially committing fraud by using his private health insurance to pay for a work-related injury. In short, your employer may try to accuse you of trying to cheat your own private health insurance if you try to obtain medical treatment for a work-related injury through your private insurance. Many employers will do this even if the employer itself requested for you to use your own private health insurance!

Also, most health insurance companies have language in your insurance policy which states that the insurance company has a lien or right to be repaid any money that they pay for medical treatment in the event that you recover money from a third party. In other words, even if your health insurance company does pay for medical treatment relating to your Jones Act injury, when you try to resolve your claim or you present your claim in court, your health insurance company will require that you repay them for any medical expenses which they covered. Sometimes this lien can make it difficult to resolve your Jones Act claim with your employer since you essentially owe your own insurance company money out of any potential settlement that you may receive.

One other concern with using your private health insurance to pay for medical treatment relating to a Jones Act injury is a practical effect that using your private insurance has upon your claim. Many Jones Act employers will have the injured employee use his private insurance for months and months of medical treatment following the original injury. This can sometimes delay the official filing of a claim under the employer’s Jones Act insurance. Even though the injured Jones Act employee has done nothing wrong, many times it is difficult to move a claim forward if the employer’s insurance company was not made aware of the claim until months and months later. It is always best to immediately report any type of Jones Act injury and also require that your employer pay for all medical expenses rather than putting these expenses on your own insurance.

If you have suffered an injury at work under the Jones Act, in almost all cases it is best to insist that your employer pay your medical benefits rather than claiming your medical expenses on your own private health insurance. Using your own insurance should be a last resort if your employer refuses to pay under the Jones Act; and then, make sure you clearly state that the injury happened at work.

Health insurance costs vary a lot depending on your lifestyle and your overall health. How healthy and how risk-free your life style is usually determines how much you will be paying for a health insurance coverage. Usually, the more health and the less risk free your lifestyle is, the lesser it is that you will be paying for a health insurance coverage while the less healthier and the more risk-free your lifestyle is as compared to the majority, the higher it is that you will be paying for a health insurance plan.

What is an open enrollment health insurance? A lot of people have heard about this at one point or another but do not really have any idea what it entails.

In the United States and other countries, health insurances are designed to be able to cover incidents that would require medical expenses in the future. Most of the health insurance coverages normally do not include pre-existing medical conditions, a high-risk lifestyle, and an occurring illness. To be able to help those people who belong to these brackets, the United States federal law made a clause to make health insurance available to them. This is what they call open enrollment health insurance.

Open enrollment health insurance is more or less the option that people who cannot qualify for a standard health insurance avails of. They are not qualified for other types of insurance which can more or less be because of three reasons, namely: (1) health history of self and family or pre-existing medical conditions, (2) a high-risk lifestyle, and (3) an occurring illness. This type of insurance can normally be availed of from non-profit health organizations. As mandated by law, anybody who will be applying for an open enrollment health insurance should not be declined.

Because of the risks involved in getting an individual insured under an open enrollment health insurance, it is very expensive. There aren’t really lots of options for people who belong to the three brackets mentioned in the preceding paragraph since they will only be able to avail of health insurances like this. The best thing that people who belong to these brackets can do is to make sure that they go to a health insurance company who will be able to give them the best plan at the least possible cost. To be able to do that, a little bit of research is necessary.

COBRA is mandated for employers with 20 or more employees. It mandates that they must allow past employees maintain their health insurance for at least 18 months if they so choose. This option tends to be very costly however!

The reason COBRA is expensive is due to a few things. First, you pay the total premium (what you had paid, plus the employer contribuation). Second, they often add administrative fees on top of that.

When looking into your options there are a few things to consider. One is your pre exisiting conditions. If you have an illness that requires medical attention or medications. Then you should opt for COBRA.

Pre exisiting conditions are excluded on temporary health insurance plans. So Carmen may decide to take the COBRA to cover her high blood pressure. Since Jose, her husband is healthy she can find an affordable temporary plan for him.

Before committing to a temporary health insurance plan there are a few factors to closely consider. Temporary health insurance can be an excellent alternative, but does have some drawbacks.

1. Temporary helath insurance is just that….temporary. So if you purchase 6 months and then find you need it 12 months you may be trying to find more coverage at the last minute. So you should consider this.

2. Temporary health insurance does come with exclusions. It is not going to cover any pre existing conditions. Hence, the reason it is not a good idea for Carmen. If her husband develops an illness and then you have to extend the temporary insurance he will no longer be covered for that illness.

3. Temporary health insurance will not cover things like office visits. You will have to pay for that out of opocket due to the high deductible you have to meet. This insurance can keep you out of financial debt incase something really costly happens however.

The new administration in the United States government has promised that health care will be a priority in the future. How that will actually play out remains to be seen. There are millions of uninsured children in the country who need immediate care and physical checkups. The impact of the new program will be immense, if it ever comes to fruition and is implemented.

The popular SCHIP, State Childrens Health Insurance Program, has gotten a boost in recent weeks. A bill has passed the House and is expected to pass the Senate, after which it will be forwarded to President Obama for his signature. A similar version, to extend the existing SCHIP program passed both houses of Congress, but was vetoed by President Bush in the fall of 2007.

The SCHIP plan will assure that 90% of the country’s children will have insurance coverage, either on a government funded plan, or by private insurance. The new plan offers good news to families who were ineligible in the past. The plan has been augmented to cover up to 3 million more children than in the past, and has been hailed for its strength.

The new SCHIP plan will raise the base level of earnings allowed for families, so that more children can be covered. Children who were denied coverage in the past because their parents made too much money will now be able to get the care they need, at little or no cost to their parents.

Now, a new report from Families USA, a health care research group, found that group health insurance rates were increasing more than wages at the fastest rate in the nation. Health insurance rates for employer-sponsored plans went up by 78.2 percent from 2000 to 2007, yet wages only increased by 4.6 percent in the same period.

An article in the Detroit Free Press wrote that Michigan workers are paying more than their employers, proportionately. The amount employers paid for health insurance rose by 63.3 percent from 2000-20007. Within the same time frame, the amount employees paid for the same coverage rose by an astonishing 170.6 percent, states the Free Press article.

“The whole system is being stretched. This report is another cause to look at the impending collapse of the whole health care system,” stated John Dingell, State Representative. People would ask what sort of health insurance reform residents in Michigan would pick. It seems they may have made that decision.

Michigan was thought to be a battleground in the present election. John McCain has since announced that he will be pulling his campaign from Michigan, due to decreasing numbers in polls that last few weeks. That pretty much cedes Michigan to Barack Obama.

The independent review process would allow insurers to cancel policies only if they could prove that customer intentionally lied about their health on their application, reported the Associated Press and the San Diego Union-Tribune.

the question was asked, why would Governor Shwarzenegger veto this bill that seems to protect consumers? The AP article cites that he did not approve it because the six provisions he wanted included, were not. The article also states that Shwarzenegger responded, “The bill was written by the attorneys that stand to benefit from its provisions.”

A lawmaker in California recognizes that many of Shwarzenegger’s provisions were previously attached to other bills. Some critics of Shwarzenegger also say that he is going back and forth on his health insurance initiatives, by vetoing this bill.

“The governor’s veto betrays the promise he repeatedly made to Californians to protect them from insurance companies canceling their health insurance when they need it most,” said president of the California Medical Association, Dr. Richard Frankenstein. Something smells funny with this veto.

In the mental health provision, group health insurance plans will now be required to cover mental treatments as they would physical. In the Senate, a part of an alternative fuels, energy conservation and renewable energy bill is the mental health parity.

The Senate’s energy bill, including the mental health parity provision, was approved in a 93 to 2 vote. In the House, a stand-alone mental health bill that applies to all health insurance plans was approved yesterday by a vote of 376 to 47.

It is expected that the Senate and the House will send a single mental health bill to the president’s desk, reports the Times article. Both Chambers of Congress, health insurance companies, mental health advocates and the White House all support the mental health bills.

New Mexico Senator Pete Domenici has stated, “No longer will people with mental illness have their mental health coverage treated differently than their coverage for other illnesses like cancer, heart disease and diabetes.

The Los Angeles Times reported this approval last week. Apparently, employees will have until the first month of 2010 to lose weight. Alabama is currently penalizing state employees for other unhealthy habits, such as smoking. A smoker has to pay $24 a month for their insurance. If you are a smoker and obese, you will be forking over $49 a month. A board member says, We are trying to get individuals to become more aware of their health.”

At first glance, this proposal makes sense. Most people are aware that being obese is a health risk, their is high blood pressure, cholesterol, among others. This is actually a good incentive.

Apparently, there are numerous answers to this question. Most of the opposing answers are expressed by the Alabama state employees who have a problem with obesity.

The response to that is that not every overweight person is unhealthy. It has been researched and proven that half of overweight people have normal blood pressure and cholesterol. Out of obese numbers, a third have normal blood pressure and cholesterol levels. An Alabama state worker says, .”[The new plan is] terrible. Some people come into this world big.” This will be an ongoing debate.

So where does Governor Palin stand when it comes to health care and health insurance reform? Unfortunately, she doesn’t have much of a health care record. But from what we’ve researched, Governor Palin does have a traditional stance toward health care reform as many of her Republican colleagues.

For one, Palin seems to strongly support increased competition to reduce health care costs. In Alaska, new medical facilities can only be opened if the state decides that the facility is actually needed. Any new facility needs to obtain a “certificate-of-need.” This year, Governor Palin fought to get rid of this law so new facilities could freely open and increase competition in the market.

“Under our present Certificate of Need process, costs and needs don’t drive health care choices, bureaucracy does. Our system is broken and expensive.” this is what Palin said, after her efforts had failed. Even thought they failed, she stills favors market health care coverage.

Regarding the SCHIP, Palin sides with the majority of Republican on expanding it. Palin opposed legislation this year in Alaska, when it was introduced. We will probably hear more about Palin’s thoughts and agendas now that she has been formally introduced.

When November 4 comes, and a small business owner goes to the polls, who will they vote for? So far, this is where your candidates stand when it comes to small business health insurance. Arizona Senator John McCain, recently accepted Republican nominee oficiale, would like to move away from the employer-based system, while offering tax credits to any individual(s) willing to purchase their own individual health insurance plans. Giving employees more options, for example, purchasing a health plan across state lines, this is McCain’s idea of helping small business.

Illinois Senator, Barack Obama is the Democratic nominee. He wants to require all employees to contribute something for health insurance for their workers. He also wants all companies to offer their employees coverage or help in their payment for individual plans. He says small businesses will be exempt. This is not helping to convince small business owners, as he hasn’t yet specified the guidelines to qualifying as a small business. One independent business lobbyist is quoted,”We’d like to see more specificity on almost everything. A lack of specificity breeds worries.”

As reported in the Wall Street Journal, Jason Furman, Obama’s economic policy director, says: “We would work with the Treasury to design the appropriate threshold for defining a small business.” Obama does indeed have some specifics for small businesses on the topic of health insurance. He says he will offer small business employers a 50% tax refund, provided they provide health insurance coverage for their workers. Says Obama,”I’m announcing my plan to provide real relief for small business owners crushed by rising costs, an idea championed by my friend Hillary Clinton, who’s been leading the way in our battle to insure every American.”

We are not sure whether we agree with the Wall Street Journal when they say that McCain has the edge with small business health insurance.