California Health Insurance Quotes and Blog

High gas prices have inadvertently made some people, who wouldn’t have otherwise, walk or bike to work. Next time you’re out around 5:00 or quitting time, look around.  I see some people riding bikes who look like they haven’t been on a bike in years. I see more people walking around 5:00 who look like they are wearing work cloths and they have back packs on. And I think to myself “This is great!” Not only are they saving money on gas but if I’m not mistaking, their getting some exercise and it looks like their actually having a little fun.

Do higher gas prices equal a healthier America? I don’t know. But from what I see I think it may be helping by forcing some to get up and move around. Maybe it’s also keeping people from visiting the drive threw as often and forcing them to eat in. Home cooked meals are usually healthier anyway.

Now I know some people have been blessed with good health and others by no fault of their own misfortune of an illness. But many of us otherwise healthy people have just become lazy. If more of us get up, dust of that old bike in the garage and ride it to work or to the market a few times, we might just fight off that extra 10 pounds, and become healthier.

This is where we come full circle in regards to “price”. By biking or walking to work we’ll become healthier and this will help reduce our cost for health care. Some people may be able to reverse or minimize symptoms or illnesses such as diabetes or even prevent them in the first place by walking or biking to work. If we are healthier, we can also consider health insurance plans with lower premiums thus saving money. Healthier people don’t need to see the doctor except for maybe once a year. So why buy an expensive health plan? Buy a plan like an HSA health plan that has cheap rates and covers you very well on a big claim. I think it’s a smart choice for many people wanting to save on health insurance premiums.

I may be painting a rosy picture here but, when life gives you lemons… These high gas prices are forcing many people to revisit the old Schwinn. I say take advantage of it. Become healthier and reduce your health care cost.

Sometimes my clients like to elaborate about their own experiences with medical bills. This one I want to share. I was speaking with a man who said to me that he “Will never put his family threw what he went through as a child”. I expected the usual grew up poor and lived in the projects story, but this one was unique.

His family wasn’t rich, but they were not poor either. He had a stay at home mom and dad was a local business owner. His dad never thought that the need for health insurance was strong enough and never bought a policy for the family. One day his mother became ill. It was cancer. Without insurance the bills started piling up. Mom made it, but the price was much more than just the bills from treatment. He explained to that his dads business suffered greatly because of this unexpected expense. It took years to get back into the position he was in financially. Now here’s the kicker. Not only did the mom suffer a tragic illness, she blamed herself for putting the whole family in that position.

Now he sees not only that the health insurance helps pay medical bills and help keep him financially stable, it will also prevent any one of his family members from feeling bad and becoming depressed if they are stricken with a serious illness. As a young boy he wanted help, but didn’t know how. He doesn’t want his boy to grow up with that feeling.

Having health insurance is all about planning ahead. We never know when or how we are going to become sick or be in an accident. My client is smart for planning ahead. He knows that now his family is insurable and that at any time, any one person in his family may become uninsurable. He’s aware that once an illness is diagnosed, you can consider yourself either uninsurable or paying a higher premium on your health insurance.

My client’s father could have avoided all the grief and self blaming by insuring his family with a California health insurance plan. They could afford it but chose to take the risk. There are hundreds of California health insurance plans to choose from and I’m sure you can find one that fits your budget. Finding a plan is easy with websites like www.MattsInsurance4CA.com where you can compare health plans from several top rated carriers. They even make it easy to apply.

The cost of health insurance is can be high and California health insurance is no exception. Everybody needs to have a good health plan with a reputable carrier. Yes, I do understand the concern about the high cost of health insurances. It’s necessary to have health insurance and at the same time you should make your plan choice sensibly so that you don’t pay too much for unnecessary coverage. Here are few tips which will help you in reducing the amount of your health insurance premium. Think about the last three or four years and how many times you have visited a doctor. If you haven’t gone to the doctor much and you have a plan with a co-pay, you may not need that particular plan. Having a co-pay included in your health plan cost more money than a plan that has either a limited number of visits with a co-pay or no co-pay at all. Most of us generally enjoy good health except for few times a year when we suffer from some minor health issues. If you’re fairly healthy, you can go for a high deductible health plan and save money. I too followed this advice. Now I am saving a considerable amount on the health insurance premium. I was paying for unnecessary benefits earlier. You can get quotes from more than two or three health insurance companies and judge for yourself based on the quote and the coverage that you get. Many of us are generally healthy, we can avoid inclusion of all the coverage but only opt to go with catastrophic coverage which might be required if you have a big claim. Other benefits like physician’s visit, prescription, etc. can be avoided as these extras raise the premium further. Sometimes group health insurance can be more expensive than if you have an individual family plan. Contrary to popular belief that employers offering health insurance must go with a group policy, they don’t. Group policies are guarantee issue for any eligible employee who wants it. That means that no matter how sick or how many claims are filed, everybody gets accepted. With more claims being filed with group insurance, the insurance carrier must charge higher premiums. Individual plans on the other hand are fully underwritten. The insurance company will only accept healthy people onto the plan. There for less claims and lower premiums. These are just few things which would help us in reducing the health insurance premium. But there might be several of other similar points which when used intelligently would reduce the amount you pay. These are not theories or rules but just things which we learn out of experience. You too can share if you have any useful tip so that others can benefit. Why should we unnecessarily pay the insurance companies when we can we can prudently save on the premium and at the same time enjoy the needed health coverage.