Individual Health Insurance Plans

When looking for individual health insurance plans it's important to remember that generally you'll find better rates if you deal directly with the insuring company. The internet now allows individuals the chance to plug in a few personal details and obtain individual health insurance plans quotes. Some questions to consider when choosing your coverage are the following:

1) Is it important that you keep your current Doctor?

2) Is it important that you have access to alternative care such acupuncture or massage therapy?

3) How high a deductible are you comfortable with?

Individual Health Insurance Plans tailored to your needs.

Most people looking for individual health insurance plans are seeking modest insurance coverage, but they also want some of the basic essentials such as regular Doctor visits and prescription coverage. Keep in mind that your premium costs will vary depending on how high your deductible is and what kind of coverage you have. Generally the higher the deductible, the lower your monthly premiums. When choosing your coverage try to match low prices with quality coverage.

Mike Yeager

http://www.a1-healthinsurance-4u.com/

mjy610@hotmail.com

Canadas Aging Baby Boomers: Planning Health Insurance for the Future

The first of Canadas aging baby boomers are poised to turn 65, and with this milestone birthday comes a variety of new health care concerns. In response to these changing medical needs, the Canadian health care system is preparing to handle some 10 million boomers whose reasons for visiting the hospital will range from hearing loss to long-term care. The aging of this Canadian demographic is inevitable, but falling into financial debt in order to pay for these services can be avoided. By thinking ahead to what medical services may be required, individuals are able to customize their health insurance accordingly.

Living in a country like Canada where health care is provided for all is an undeniable luxury. Yet, despite the many benefits of Canadian health care, there are gaps that exist in coverage. These gaps dictate the need for supplementary health insurance. Sadly, there are many instances where people have met with unexpected illness, but there are also many health issues that can be planned for. Aging is one such issue.

Some of the most common services required by seniors include: x-rays for weakening bones, a visit to the podiatrist for any number of foot related issues and testing and fitting hearing aids for hearing loss. Each of these services may be an inevitability for the aging individual, but they may not all be covered by the Canadian government. Provincial health plans vary from province to province with certain provinces offering a proscribed amount of money yearly for various necessities, such as a trip to the podiatrist. A visit to a specialized doctor or the purchase of a hearing aid can be very costly, and with little to no coverage, people are often left with a substantial financial burden. Supplemental health insurance is the best way for seniors to plan for and minimize these costs.

Opting for supplemental health insurance allows you to customize your plan to suit your individual needs. For many seniors, the prospect of spending time in a hospital is not a pleasant one, but with supplemental coverage, a private room in a health care facility can make the stay more comfortable. Not only does health insurance ease the worry that individuals may have concerning their own personal welfare, but it also helps to assuage the fears of family members on whom the burden of long-term care would fall.

As ten million Canadians begin to approach the time in their life when retiring is imminent, it becomes a necessity to plan for whatever eventualities the future might hold. Thinking ahead to answer the various demands of aging helps guarantee a peace of mind for yourself and your family and ensures that you are ready to face the challenge of lifes milestones.

Anna Dorbyk is the editor for Canada Health Insurance and is a graduate student in Communication Studies at Concordia University. For more information on health insurance for Canadians please visit http://www.canada-health-insurance.com/.

HIPAA and the Internet: 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 HIPAA compliance, online document management 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 requiremen

  Rick Mosenkis is the President and CEO of Trichys, the creators of WorkZone hosted intranet and extranet software, including a higher-security version for HIPAA compliance. With customers around the world, among large and small companies, Trichys develops easy-to-use web-based software that allows non-technical business professionals to leverage the power of the Internet without IT support.