In today’s world, having Health Insurance isn’t a luxury; it is a necessity for most individuals.  While most of these individuals depend on their employer to provide an affordable Health Insurance plan that takes care of their Health Insurance needs and in many instances the Health Insurance needs of their family.

It is way to often that many of these individuals can find their Health Insurance situations change in the blink of an eye, individuals can quickly find themselves without the much needed support from their employer who most likely was covering a significant portion or maybe even all of their Health Insurance premiums.

 You may think that Health Insurance coverage is something that you may not really need or maybe you just can’t afford. But if you had to face paying medical bills & health expenses alone in the case of an unexpected illness or sudden accident, would you really be able to?  Health Insurance is something that you can’t really gamble with or even afford to live without.   Like other forms of insurance, health insurance offers you protection from catastrophic financial loss.  Through the years, people have started to expect more from their health insurance plans.  For example, when you purchase auto insurance, you know that it will cover you in the event of an accident. However, you don’t expect it to cover general repairs on your vehicle. You also hope that you won’t have to file a claim because that means you’ve had an accident. You pay the premium and hope you will never need to use your benefits.  Not so with health insurance. People now expect their health insurance plan to cover major illnesses as well as everyday medical expenses. That ncludes doctors’ appointments, medication, and countless tests and procedures. The health insurance premiums are a reflection of what it costs to receive all those types of medical services, as well as protection from catastrophic loss.

A dream comes true!!!

The basic requirements for a world health insurance have already been developed in theory and even in practice to a certain extent.

A world health insurance could solve the problem by defining rights and duties for both rich and poor states. A world health insurance would shed different light on the problem of sustainability. Several effective health interventions are branded as “unsustainable” in poor countries, because national health budgets cannot afford them.

The option of substantially and permanently increasing national health budgets through international assistance is rarely considered. The creation of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (“the Global Fund”) demonstrates the merits of ambitious thinking: the provision of antiretroviral therapy (ART) to people living with AIDS, previously dismissed as unsustainable, became widely accepted as soon as the Global Fund provided a long-term funding perspective. Other health interventions deserve a similar approach.

A Practical Format for a World Health Insurance

The underlying principle of health insurance is the willingness to share health risks and the burden of health care.

In national health insurance schemes, duty-bearing individuals pay a fair contribution; rights -holding individuals receive assistance in accordance with their health-care needs.

Transposed to a world health insurance, rich states would pay a fair contribution and poor states would have a right to assistance according to the health-care needs that they are unable to finance themselves.

The creation of a world health insurance would therefore require:

(1) A mechanism to determine the contributions from rich
(2) A willingness to share health risks and the burden of health care between rich and poor states;
(3) A mechanism to allocate resources to poor states;

People are recognizing more and more that taking spirulina can keep you healthy.

Spirulina is a mature product in the health food area, and is classified as a super food. Super foods, which include Spirulina, can ward off sicknesses and weaknesses. Over the last 2 years, there’s a spurt in demand for Spirulina all over the world.

The immune-enhancing properties of spirulina have created a surging demand among Asian customers. Today there’s a large consumption of spirulina in Asia, including China, because of the SARS outbreak.

In some companies in the US free bottles of Spirulina were distributed and the amount of time spent off work for sicknesses declined greatly after it was widely available to everyone working here, and it declined so much that the health insurance expenses went down.

Companies could be suggesting this to their employees and saving money and saving health care costs all at the same time.

Have a healthy future with Super foods, Spirulina and your health insurance taken on time.

Insurance policies for the most part are simple to understand if you know the language they speak. Let’s get started and see if we can help you make sense of your new health insurance policy. Even if you are a stranger in the world of health insurance, once you are through with this article, you will no longer have to consider yourself to be a stranger in it! Health insurance can be considered to be part and parcel of life.  These are some of the key points that you will have to read and be very familiar in your health insurance policy. Exclusions will be one section that you must read very carefully and fully understand in your health insurance policy. Exclusions are things the policy will not cover and this can be a very gray area.  The policy could cover surgery but not after care or cover after care and not the operation. This is one of the most important sections of your policy so read it and reread it over a lot to make sure you grasp all of the contents and what it covers and what it doesn’t cover. Pre-existing conditions is one of the things you will want to know about. Pre-existing basically means it was a condition you already have and been treated for which the policy will not cover it or pay for any work done for that pre-existing condition.  

Some health insurance policies will cover pre-existing where others won’t which is why knowing what is in your policy is very important.

 Waiting period is usually the time you will have to wait for your health insurance policy to become effective. Most policies do have a waiting period and the benefits aren’t available until you have met the waiting period requirements. Different companies have different policies so check with your insurance company so you will know the rules for your policy. Grace period is the amount of time that is given for one to pay their health insurance premium after the original due date has passed.  There are many things that you should always remember as you look over your health insurance policy. Read each and every paragraph and make sure you understand how the whole policy works so you will never be in the dark or have any questions about what is covered and what isn’t. Remember that it is okay to ask questions! 

Indian hospitals have gained monopoly in medical tourism and Blue Ridge Paper Products Inc. benefits director Bonnie Blackley interestingly remarked–”The employees don’t care, because where else they are going to go? Well India of course!

Blue Ridge is just one of several U.S. companies offering “medical tourism” medical plans — will send one of its employees to a New Delhi hospital next month for a pair of surgeries that will save the company $10,000 over what the procedures would cost in America.

The hospitals have a monopoly,” says North Carolina-based Blue Ridge

As medical costs in the United States continue to rise, more and more employers are sending employees in need of costly surgeries overseas to receive treatment.

A number of U.S. employers that fund their own health insurance plans have started sending their employees to countries such as India and Thailand for operations that can costs tens of thousands of dollars more in the United States.

Tens of thousands of Americans have begun traveling overseas for costly medical procedures in recent years, since the savings can be significant. For example, Arthur Milstein, chief physician at HR consulting giant Mercer Health & Benefits, says a coronary bypass surgery at Apollo Hospitals in India costs about $6,500 — compared to the same surgery that costs an average of $60,400 in California.

Hospital associations in the United States say medical tourism will only make healthcare price problems worse, however, many Americans have no other choice but to travel abroad for surgeries they would otherwise be unable to afford.

The problem in “America is though it has the best medical treatment,” much of it is inaccessible was the comment of the founder of Malibu insurance company.

It is a word that sends shivers through many a stalwart spine! A word that is synonymous with shame and prejudice! A word that the erudite and the unlettered are conditioned to fear! Yes, you have guessed right! We are discussing AIDS.

The microbe responsible for the ‘carnage’, the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), is blessed with the ability of existing as an integral part of the human genome. The biggest challenge in the treatment of AIDS is that the virus remains dormant, as a provirus, within the confines of the human DNA and develops resistance to anti-AIDS drugs.

Dr Indrani Sarkar’s PhD thesis is bound to cause a stir among HIV/AIDS patients and their doctors. Her thesis, based on her doctoral work done at the Max Planck Institute in Dresden, Germany, has thrown a beacon of light onto the despairing world of AIDS.

A cure for HIV should be based on completely removing the virus from the infected cells. Dr.Indrani, along with her enterprising colleagues have developed an enzyme that has the potency to permanently eradicate the AIDS virus from their cellular abode. This enzyme, christened the ‘Tre’, has been especially ‘tailor-made’ to function like a pair of biological scissors.

‘Tre’, belongs to a group of enzymes called the ‘recombinase’. It recognizes the viral sequences embedded in the infected human genome and binds to it through the process of recombination. The enzyme, then, excises the provirus and in about three months’ time, eradicates the disease permanently. It took a year and 126 cycles of mutation to genetically ‘engineer’ the enzyme.

Based on WHO reports, there are nearly 40 million people affected by AIDS. ‘Tre’ is a ground –breaking, epoch-making discovery but, it could be anywhere between five and twenty years, before it becomes suitable to save sinking lives. This is because ‘Tre’is a novel enzyme that needs to be designed, time-tested and ‘revoked’ outside the controlled laboratory conditions.

Although a permanent cure for this discriminating disease is not round the corner, Dr. Indrani’s worthy work may bear good tidings for those braving the dreaded disease and may prove to be a solace that make their spirits soar!

Here are ten tips to receiving affordable insurance quotes

General insurance tips:

1. Purchase all of your insurance policies with the same company to qualify for a multiple policy discount.
2. Buy before any major health issues arise. Healthy people have the best mortality risks and thus are much cheaper for companies to insure.
3 Have your current insurance policy with you when requesting your insurance quotes.

For an inexpensive life insurance quote:

1.If you are a smoker, quit for at least 13 months and request that your insurance company consider you for a nonsmoker insurance rate.
2.Consider level premium term insurance.

For an inexpensive health insurance quote:

1. Join a group health insurance plan.
2. Buy a health insurance policy before any major health issues arise. Healthy people are much cheaper for companies to insure as they have the best mortality risks. This translates into lower rates for the “Super Preferred” customer than someone with higher risk factors such as a heart condition, cancer or diabetes. Conversely, if you were unhealthy when you acquired your policy, and your health has now improved, it might be time to shop for a new policy, as your rates are likely to be lower.

For an inexpensive long term insurance quote:

1. Purchase coverage when you are young (premiums are lower).
2. Consider a longer elimination (waiting) period.
3.Check out your payment/billing options and discount offer of the life insurance/health insurance companies to consumers who pay their premiums annually, or who pay monthly by electronic funds transfer (EFT).

Apollo Hospitals Group and DKV AG, Europe’s largest private health insurer together with a Munich Re Group company, launched the second standalone health insurance company in the country last month.

The products will be rolled out by the middle of September by the joint venture. The Apollo Hospitals Group will hold 74 per cent stake while the remaining 26 per cent will be held by the DKV AG.

At a press conference here today Ms Shobana Kamineni, Director, Apollo Hospitals and Apollo DKV Health Insurance, said “the partners have invested Rs 108 crore in proportion to their shareholding in the venture, and the company hopes to offer cashless products and services in over 4,000 hospitals across the country. The company expects to have a presence in over 100 cities across the country by 2010.

“Apollo DKV will, initially cover a comprehensive range of products covering critical illness cover, personal accident covers, overseas travel and health cover and in-patient hospitalization cover. The company would start with six regional offices in major metros and expand to 25 category A cities by the end of the second year. The categories would include policies for both individuals and groups,” Dr Jochen Messemer, Director, Apollo DKV Health Insurance, said.

The products will not only give true value for money but also give much more built in value added services and the pricing will be on par with other insurance players Ms Kamineni, said.

“The need of the hour is to have products to cater to the needs of the out-patients, Dr Messemer said and added that the company was also looking at introducing products suited for outpatients. The company is expected to launch this product in the second phase,” he said as the crucial aspect for this to materialize is to have a reliable pricing mechanism and tie-up with hospitals and this would take some time to work out.

The company is looking at customized products for various market segments and locations and also long-term care plans in the nearest future.

Apollo DKV has envisaged a market share of 10-12 per cent in the next five to seven years and expects to cover one million lives in the next two to three years. The company also expects its revenues to touch close to €300 million (Rs 1,722.9 crore) in this time period.

It can cost you a whole lot of what you have and also lead you to getting bad medical care in the hospital when you neglect your health insurance. We tend to think twice when it comes to investing some money on health insurance, and put it off whereas we might gorge on comforts and luxuries but unfortunately every day many new families in India and the rest of the world are caught off-guard with a major medical problem that they cannot afford and are not covered by health insurance.

Following these easy steps help you save up to 30%:

Set Your Priorities right! Determine your needs and your family needs.

Get the help of an insurance broker

An insurance broker can do the running around for you to help you find a well-suited insurance company, help shop for the best rates, and explain the ins and outs of your plan. It is, however, essential to check the reputation and credentials of the broker.

Make use of the*Free Loop* period

You can take an insurance program for a test drive many times just like you test-drive a car. There is a money back period if you don’t like the plan for at least two weeks,

Choose By Location

Make sure to look at your state specifically because prices/plans and laws are different by state. Start your research by looking at your state’’s website under the insurance department or you can check out the various insurance companies websites. The site should have information on affordable health care insurance programs; list the many companies, what types of policies, rough prices and other details that you require that fit your needs.

Have a Health Savings Account

A health savings account helps you save money on taxes as well as act like an investment program to help you save money on health expenditure. You can withdraw it any time to help pay medical expenses and by 65, you can take it all out and spend it on anything you want. It is basically money in pre tax and grows tax deferred.

You can always ask for alternate plans that match your needs

You can always ask for alternate plans with your insurance advisors and brokers. Just realize that even in India, no matter what some people say – it is still very possible to get affordable health insurance programs – on the internet, or at your door step, just get up and follow these steps before you get trapped unawares by a major health problem!

The United India Insurance last year has launched group mediclaim policies exclusively for the mentally challenged, which can be covered along with their parents.United India Insurance Senior Divisional Manager Dhanasekaran told reporters that the policy, is the first in India and was designed exclusively for persons with Autism cerebral palsy, Mental Retardation and multiple disabilities following requests from Saarathy-Pammac – Parents Association. Dhanasekaran said that the sum assured is fixed at Rs 50,000 or Rs 25,000 per policy, The age band for the parents would be up to 65 years and for the children from three months onwards and the premium will vary for the sum assured opted and age of head of the family. Excepting the pre-existing disease/disorder, Dhanasekaran said the diseases/illness contracted during the one-year policy period by the insured persons, for which hospitalization was required, was covered.

Eye Infirmary, Nabha conducted the first of its Rural School Eye Health Program in a remote village of Nabha at Government Primary School, Rampur Chhana on July 27, 2007. The school has children in classes First, through to the Fifth. 126 children were subjected to a thorough eye examination, which included (in the order elaborated) -

• Testing of Visual Acuity
• General Eye Check up for
  • any squint,
  • ailments of the anterior segment,
  • colour vision testing &
  • direct ophthalmoscopy.
• Refraction on an Autorefractometer
• Retinoscopy &
• Subjective Vision Testing.

   

Free medical aid was provided to all requiring it.

Free spectacles were provided to 16 children having refractive errors.

This program envisages covering at least two schools every month and God willing, shall be continued indefinitely.

Ranjit S. Dhaliwal, M

Kunwar V.S. Dhaliwal, MBBS

BoI National Swasthya Bima” the new product launched by “The National Insurance Company along with its Bancassurance scheme partner Bank of India “is a co-branded health cover that can be availed by all its Bank of India customers.  Key highlights:  v      Provides cashless hospitalizationv      The cashless facility is available in over 3000-networked hospitals.v      Pre-acceptance medical examination is not required  CMD of BoI, Mr M. Balachandran, said that the new co-branded health insurance product would provide hassle-free family health insurance to BoI customers  The product has an additional optional facility for a comparatively lesser premium covering the entire family of the account holder ie his/her spouse and two children up to 21 years.  The product can be obtained by all between the age group of three months to 65 years and renewals beyond 65, will be allowed at a premium fixed by NICL.  The new product is available to all existing 24 million customers across 2,800 branches.  The CMD of NICL Mr V. Ramasaamy said that the key advantage of this policy is that the sum assured ranges between Rs 50000 to Rs 500000 and the premiums paid are exempt from tax under section 80D.  The customer is eligible for a health check up at 1 percent sum assured after three continuous claim-free years. Pre-existing diseases will be covered from the fourth year onwards.   NICL has a strategic tie up with BOI since 1993 and has earned for NICL an amazing sum of Rs 35 crore in the year 2006 and the target for the current year is Rs 60 crore. 

The first poly-clinic of Star Health and Medical Tourism Pvt Ltd, an associate of Star Health Insurance, India’s only stand alone health insurance company, has been opened in Chennai under the umbrella of Star Clinics.  Mr A.G. Gajapathy, Executive Director of the company said that this move is in line with the plan to establish multi-specialty outpatient treatment facilities in major cities across the country. Tier II and tier III cities will also be covered by the city.  At present Star Clinics have 24 polyclinics in Tamil Nadu and one in Kerala. “The company aims to provide primary healthcare to rural and semi-urban public, and hope to add another six clinics by the end of August. The proposal is to open 100 clinics in the four southern States by the end of this year. “We also hope to set up several such clinics across the country by the end of next fiscal.” The company spends Rs 5 lakh per clinic on an average. “All our clinics, barring a few, are tele-networked.” said Mr Gajapathy. —  

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said the Government is working on a scheme to provide health insurance to the poor, besides offering life and disability cover to one earning member of each economically weaker family. These measures along with old age pension to all citizens above 65 years and living below the poverty line would help the poor cope up with distressed times. ” After giving away national awards for micro, small and medium enterprises, instituted by the government ” Singh said that through these initiatives, the government intends to ensure a minimum level of social safety for all poor families. Manmohan said that the health insurance model would help the poor bear the high cost of medical care while the life and disability cover would enable them to “get over the consequences of injury or death”.  Underscoring the role of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in providing employment to over 60 million people, the Prime Minister said the the government intends to fund polytechnics and Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) to address the demand of skilled manpower.  

The Prime Minister asked the banks and financial institutions to support these enterprises, especially through risk and venture capital. He said the government hopes to double the credit flow to the SME sector within five years.

 The government has already set up a Credit Guarantee Fund to provide relief to the small units who are unable to pledge collateral securities.