Life Insurance You Don't Have to Die to Use

There are some great new plan designs out there from an excellent A+ rated carrier by the name of Western Reserve Life from Ohio. These plans offer three additional benefits in addition to the standard death benefit.

The "terminal Illness" benefit can be triggered by the insured's doctor advising him that he will possibly die from his diagnosed illness in less than 12 months. 100% of his face amount can be taken prior to his death for whatever expenses he or she would like to use it for. The next benefit is the "critical Illness" benefit that can pay up to 90% of the death benefit if the insured is diagnosed with a illness such as a heart attack, cancer, stroke, kidney failure and several other critical conditions. Last but not least is the "Chronic Illness" benefit (90%), that can be activated by an illness that prevents the insured from doing some of the normal daily activities such as clothing himself, bathing or eating. Situations like these often will put the person in a nursing home type facility and the Western Reserve plan will then be able to pay benefits in the form of monthly fee expenses similar to a "Long Term Care" policy.

These new benefit packed life insurance plans offer a lot more value for your money when compared to a typical term policy and these new plans can be purchased for up to 40 years instead of the conventional maximum of 30 years. A plan design like these Advantage Term products could and will come in handy especially in these bad economic times where money is so tight for the average American family.

Traditional PPOs vs. HSA Health Savings Accounts

This is always one of the first and most common questions that come up when I speak with a person that is shopping for a health plan. The first question normally is, what is the real difference in these two plan designs.

First of all, keep in mind that a Health Savings Account is a PPO type health plan. The initial difference is that an HSA plan does not have a conventional doctors office co-pay e.g. ( $10, $20, $30) or a co-payment for prescription drugs e.g. (10/25/50), (15/30/75) and so forth. Instead of the usual co-pays, the insured would receive a contracted provider discount on these services and the out of pocket expenses would be applied against the plan deductible. Normally HSA plans have 100% co-insurance vs. the traditional PPOs 80/20 type co-insurance. In many situations, the HSA plan can offer lower out of pocket expenses instead the other way around as many consumer believe. Watching an HSA video can educate the consumer on all the good points of these excellent plans.

Purchasing Quality Health Insurance Without Breaking the Bank!

Many Americans today are in a state of confusion when trying to decide how to purchase a good health insurance plan. Their main goals are to purchase a plan that offers good benefits, low out of pocket expenses and still have an affordable premium. Depending on the size of the family, their ages and health history, this can sometimes be a daunting task.

There are normally many questions that arise. What type of plan should I buy? Should I purchase a traditional PPO, an HSA (Health Savings Account) or possibly an HMO product? What insurance carrier should I apply with? Should I be contacting an agent or should I call a carrier directly? These types of questions can go on and on to the point that months go by even years and the consumer still has not purchased a plan.

My first tip is, contact an experienced insurance agent that can answer all your questions and point you in the right direction. A good agent can usually do this in a matter of minutes. A good health insurance related website with a lot of good useful information is always a great starting point also.