Have you ever thought about what might happen if you suffered a serious illness or injury, couldn’t return to work and as a result, lost your job along with your employer-sponsored health insurance?
This is what happens to millions of Americans every year and the financial consequences are devastating.
Up to ONE MILLION mostly middle and upper-middle class families are forced to file bankruptcy every year due to medical bills they cannot pay-even though nearly 80% had health insurance (mostly through work) at the onset.
Employer-based health insurance is the leading cause of personal bankruptcy in America… accounting for as much as 50% of all annual bankruptcy filings!
Once “sick days” and vacation time are exhausted, few employers can afford to continue paying salaries and provide health insurance benefits for absent employees… especially while providing the salaries and benefits of their replacements! Soon these unfortunate employees are let go and their financial problems escalate beyond control.
Even people who have retired with employer-sponsored health benefits are in danger of losing them, as more companies renege on their promises to retirees.
SOLUTION: The “INDIVIDUAL” health insurance market is in the midst
of a huge growth spurt and is rapidly replacing employer-based group insurance because privately owned individual health insurance is…
1. PERMANENT… once you own a policy, you cannot be singled out for premium increases or cancellation because of frequent “claim activity” or deteriorating health.
2. PORTABLE… the policy is not dependent upon where you work and since you own the policy, you can take it with you from job to job… or keep it if you start your own business.
3. AFFORDABLE… individual health insurance policies typically cost 50% to 75% less group insurance! Insurance companies offer huge discounts to people buying their own individual policies because, unlike group insurance, they only have to accept the folks that are relatively healthy-approximately 80% of all applicants-and can afford to charge much lower prices as a result.
By the way, in case you or someone in your family is among the 20% unable to obtain private individual coverage in the open market… don’t despair! You can still get “state-guaranteed coverage” for the unhealthy family member-a much safer scenario than remaining on an employer-based group plan-while the rest of the family enters the 80% pool of healthy policyholders.
As for those of you that receive “free” health insurance at work, an individual policy is much safer since you will not lose your coverage if you lose your job… but that’s your call. However-and this one’s a no-brainer-if you pay extra to your employer in order to cover your spouse and children on the company plan, you could be saving thousands of dollars every year by taking them off the group plan and buying them their own individual policy. They’ll also be a lot safer because they will no longer be at risk of losing their health insurance if you lose your job!
Over the last several years, new legislation and regulations have dramatically altered the health insurance industry. However, very few employees, employers, self-employed individuals… or even insurance agents (!) are aware of the major changes taking place and the opportunities to solve much of America’s “healthcare crisis”.
For example, did you know that employers finally have the option of getting out of “the health insurance business” and-once and for all-ending their health insurance nightmare through a Health Reimbursement Arrangement? They can now allow their employees to buy their own permanent, portable and much more affordable individual health insurance policy, and reimburse each employee for some or all of their monthly premiums on a totally TAX-FREE basis!