The Important of Health Insurance

The Important of Health Insurance

Millions of Americans are uninsured and with the elections coming up, it seems like it is a new issue but it has been an issue for sometime now.

Acquiring health insurance in the United States is very important and every individual or family should have some type of coverage weather it be through a state program or ant other type of health coverage such as PPO's, HMO's, Indemnity Plans, etc.

An individual or family should consider that even a policy with a high deductible, paying a low monthly premium is worth acquiring, even if it seems it wont do much for you.

A day in the ER could cost you anywhere between 2,000 to 8,000 dollars on average.

Online sites where you can purchase health insurance and search and compare plans are www.bestratequote.com or www.healthinsurancestore.com.

Health Insurance for International Travelers

If you are planning a trip overseas then you have probably wondered how your US medical plan will cover you outside of the U.S.

If you have a managed care (HMO) plan, then you might not have any coverage outside of the US. Any coverage you do have with an HMO is likely to be significantly reduced when you travel, with greater out-of-pocket expense for treatment outside of your normal coverage area.

Privately issued medical insurance usually does cover you during overseas travel, but the cost of obtaining records, translating them into the English language, converting the currency, and delivering payment overseas is all your responsibility, not the insurers.

One easy option is to have a short term medical policy specifically designed to cover international travelers to supplement your primary coverage. Fortunately these are inexpensive and easy to obtain. Since these plans specialize in international travel, there are fewer hassles typically associated with health plans. The coverage can usually be issued in about two days with a confirmation sent by fax or e-mail to your travel destination if necessary.

See the FAQs at www.medsave.com for more details.

If you have a managed care (HMO) plan, then you might not have any coverage outside of the US. Any coverage you do have with an HMO is likely to be significantly reduced when you travel, with greater out-of-pocket expense for treatment outside of your normal coverage area.

Privately issued medical insurance usually does cover you during overseas travel, but the cost of obtaining records, translating them into the English language, converting the currency, and delivering payment overseas is all your responsibility, not the insurers.

One easy option is to have a short term medical policy specifically designed to cover international travelers to supplement your primary coverage. Fortunately these are inexpensive and easy to obtain. Since these plans specialize in international travel, there are fewer hassles typically associated with health plans. The coverage can usually be issued in about two days with a confirmation sent by fax or e-mail to your travel destination if necessary.

See the FAQs at www.medsave.com for more details.

Tony Novak, MBA, MT is a writer and financial adviser in Narberth, PA focusing on tax and employee benefit issues. His businesses www.MedSave.com and Freedom Benefits Association provide online benefits enrollment for thousands of individuals and businesses nationwide.

Is Pet Health Insurance an Option?

Most pet owners arent aware that health insurance for their loved animals has been available for about 15 years now. However, both the availability and restrictions on most plans have made this type of health insurance out of reach for most pet owners.

Interestingly enough, pet health insurance has changed in the past couple of years. Now, animal owners are able to afford medical procedures previously prohibitive because of the cost. But many skeptics are concerned that health insurance for pets will see an increase in the red tape us humans already encounter every day.

Animal medicine is one of the few health care services that isnt financially dependent on health insurance. Medical, dental, surgical and pharmaceuticals are all pretty much covered by health insurance in humans, but veterinary patients are responsible for all of that, themselves. Or, at least their owners are.

Health insurance for pets is very similar to insurance for humans. The same fees, deductibles, coverage rates and plans are all in place, with different plans based on the age, species, and general health of your pet.

Most health insurance policies for animals start around the 6-8 week range, but when the policies end depend on a variety of factors, mostly decided by the health insurance company. Some have age limits, and some dont.

And just like with humans, some health insurance companies will only accept your pet on their plan if they are healthy; others will accept them only if they have had a stable condition for more than six months in a row.

Currently, deductibles stand around $100 for pet health insurance. Policy costs vary as much as human health insurance does, unfortunately. Some depend on what types and kind of coverage is desired, and yet others are just blanket coverage catch-alls. Some may only cover accidents and illnesses. And more pets usually means a reduced health insurance rate for subsequent animals.

But what if you decide that an health insurance policy is not right for you, and your pet? There are other options, of course!

First, discuss your situation with your Veterinarian. Some animal hospitals offer packages that arent quite health insurance, but can offer a rate deal of some sorts on more mundane medical procedures (spaying/neutering, vaccinations, etc.), or packages for your aging animal.

Secondly, research plans that offer discounts on animal health services. PetAssure is one of these companies, but there are a myriad of not-for-profits that may offer this as a side benefit when you join. Or, these same animal not-for-profits may offer financial assistance for pet owners whose health costs are beyond their means a sort of emergency fund, if you will.

All in all, it depends on you, and your pet(s), whether or not pet health insurance is the right choice. Hopefully, with the help of this article, your choice will be an informed one.

For more more information about pet health insurance please visit http://www.1health-center.com/articles/The-Important-of-Health-Insurance.php

HIPAA: Requirements For Intranet Collaboration Software

Sharing private health information over the internet can be a risky business. Unfortunately, as people become accustomed to doing most if not all of their personal business online, the demand for accessing this information online will grow to the point that health care providers will have no choice but to either provide access to this private health information or lose their customers.

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) was enacted to assure the confidentiality of patient information. This requires that health care providers employ stringent measures to assure that information shared on the internet is protected from unauthorized access.

The HIPAA Act requires health-providing entities to:

* Assign responsibility for security to a person or organization.

* Assess security risks and determine the major threats to the security and privacy of protected health information.

* Establish a program to address physical security, personnel security, technical security controls, and security incident response and disaster recovery.

* Certify the effectiveness of security controls.

* Develop policies, procedures and guidelines for use of personal computing devices (workstations, laptops, hand-held devices), and for ensuring mechanisms are in place that allow, restrict and terminate access (access control lists, user accounts, etc.) appropriate to an individual's status, change of status or termination.

* Implement access controls that may include encryption, context-based access, role-based access, or user-based access; audit control mechanisms, data authentication, and entity authentication

This law has serious implications for organizations that allow unauthorized access resulting in a breach in confidentiality.

Security is the key

Since the HIPAA law provides for both civil and criminal penalties for violations, data and access security is of the utmost importance. To assure HIPPA compliance, online document management on company intranets and extranets must include a number of security features:

* Secure web server - a server running secure socket layers is the minimum needed.

* Encrypted database - all data must be encrypted. Software is available that will encrypted all data sent between two computer over the internet.

* Secure access control -- in addition to a traditional user id and password, it may be a good idea to use a strong password or smart card as additional security.

* Session timeout - this assures that confidential data is not left on an unattended screen.

* Server monitoring - the secure web server needs to be strictly monitored to detect break-in attempts.

* Regular security audits - regular audits are required to make sure all security precautions are working properly.

* Personnel - system maintenance should be in the hands of qualified personnel familiar with HIPPA requirements

Laura Schweiker writes extensively on the use of technology by businesspeople and is an evangelist for online collaboration and intranet solutions.

The Modern Medical Office: Balancing Success, Technology, and HIPAA

The medical field has always depended on technology for improving patient care. Thanks to advances in technology, administrative functions of healthcare offices have greatly increased their efficiency and customer relations. For example, there is technology that allows doctors to share information with offices across street or across the nation instantly with just a few clicks of the mouse. These advances not only free up hours of paperwork, but also quickly provides information vital to patient’s care.

The Electronic Medical Office & HIPAA

A clinic can in the end be more profitable by offering these innovative services. Nearly half of the people interviewed in a Forrester Research study said they would be willing to pay more for online features; such email access to their doctors. (1)

While technology can be tremendously beneficial there are serious cautions that must be heeded. In 2003, the privacy rule of HIPAA was enacted and the rules governing protected health information (PHI) of patients became far more stringent. The rule governs the way in which information is handled. It requires every level of communication and storage of the PHI to be secure and private.(2) Examples of the ways violations occur are:

• Computer screens visible from waiting room
• Files left out around the office
• PHI not disposed of properly, such as securely shredded
• Records sent to the wrong home or email address

 

Due to these changes all modes of communication have a heavier burden of responsibility placed upon them since the inclusion of the privacy rule, but none more than electronic transmissions. Keeping the information protected when sending emails, which can be intercepted, can in itself be a daunting task.

HIPAA’s Penalties

If an action taken by any employee, whether intentional, unintentional, or simply neglectful leads to improper recipient of PHI, the practice involved could face serious consequences.

 

• The civil penalties range from "$100 per incident, up to $25,000 per person, per year, per standard that is violated."(3)
• The criminal penalties range in three main groups. The first is up to $50,000 and 1 year in prison, moving up to $100,000 and 5 years, or $250,000 and 10 years in prison.

 

Each tier of the criminal penalties has different qualifications leading up to the knowingly disclosing PHI with the intent for malicious harm. (3)

Keeping Your Practice HIPAA Compliant

It’s important for today’s electronic medical office to have several layers of digital protection. This ensures PHI or any other private information cannot go outside the confines of the practices’ systems without the proper digital rights. These rights can be controlled by moderators or even the sender and have the ability to dictate what permissions the receiver may have.

One large step is to protect your practice from accidentally sending information into the wrong hands. This can be done through email anti-theft solutions which encrypts the data sent via email. By using these types of programs, the sender may control not only the security of the file but also subsequent actions that may be carried out by the file’s recipient(s).

email anti-theft programs allow the user to establish who can view, edit, print and forwarding these important health records. Permissions set with email anti-theft software stays with the documents once they’ve left the clinic’s computer.

What Happens if My Practice’s Computer is Stolen?

Email anti-theft software can also protect the data on the computer if the machine is ever misplaced or stolen. This can be done through remote laptop security. All the victim of theft has to do is log into the program and there remotely block access to all protected files on the missing laptop. Without improvement in the means of securing and transmitting their files many practices will continue to commit violations of HIPAA, losing money and patients along the way.

HIPAA Compliance & Patient Trust

It is obvious that one must comply with HIPAA because of the financial penalties that go with noncompliance. There are however, far better reasons for compliance than avoiding punishment.

HIPAA Violations can break the trust between doctors and patients, but compliance along with new technology can strengthen relationships. When patients have new services such as the ability to ask questions to doctors via email the doctors can enhance their trust levels. This is especially important for small practices as interpersonal relationships play key roles for the retention of patients.

The advantages of technology will continue to provide new ways of serving patients. As the digital age comes the computer will increasingly become the focus of record keeping. With an industries like medical & healthcare so dependent on keeping detailed yet secure records, it is going to be ever important to stay current with strong security programs to encrypt and protect files.

 

1. Bradford J. Holmes, Eric G. Brown, Elizabeth W. Boehm, Lynne Bishop, "Trends In Healthcare Consumer Technology Adoption" Forrester Research, 15 July 2004.
2. Title 45 Code of Federal Regulations, Pt 164.
3. United States Department of Health and Human Services. Protecting the Privacy of Patients' Health Information Summary of the Final Regulation. 2005. http://aspe.hhs.gov/admnsimp/final/pvcfact1.htm

   Michael L. David is a member of the marketing team at Essential Security Software (ESS), the leading provider of email anti-theft software for small business. He is a regular contributor to http://www.Iwantmyess.com