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You are here: Home / Archives for medical insurance

Special Health Policies: Critical Illness and Cancer Protection Policy

June 10, 2012 by Tracy

Last week, I gave an overview of the special health policies category. These policies are optional, and some experts advise against carrying them.

I am not an expert, but I research our options before committing our family dollars to an insurance premium.

In finding policies that fit our family’s needs and budget, we apply and place the documents within this special health policies category.

The first set of documents in our special health policies slot is paperwork for our Critical Illness and Cancer Protection Policy.

Defined

Our Critical Illness and Cancer Protection Policy provides a single cash benefit upon the first diagnosis of a covered critical illness or condition (as defined in the policy). We can use our benefit any way our family needs, and the benefit amount is paid in full even if treatment costs are less than the benefit.

The policy we hold covers our entire family. If any one of the 5 of us receives a diagnosis of a covered condition (e.g., heart attack, stroke, invasive cancer, kidney failure, etc.), then this policy will pay the full lump sum for us to use for income replacement, medical treatment, child care, transportation, or any way we need.

Though this policy is not a necessity, we choose to protect our family with this group policy which almost pays for itself with the health screening benefit.

Benefits

Our policy carries a health screening benefit which pays up to $100 for the cost of a screening test per person per calendar year. Since our family has annual physical exams each year, this benefit reimburses our family a total of $500 for the year. (I shared in this post the details of this benefit.)

With this benefit and the added protection to choose experimental or out-of-network medical treatment should one of us get seriously ill makes this Critical Illness and Cancer Protection Policy worth our hard-earned dollars.

Documents

For this policy, I keep the following documents in this ninth file opening of our insurance file box:

1. Summary Page

This one-paged document holds vital information about this policy.

2. Policy

3. Endorsement

These documents explain changes made to the original policy (e.g., adding a child, increasing our coverage, upgrading a rider, etc.).

4. Correspondence

Copies of my submissions for the health screening benefit and the checks received and the reviews of our current coverage makeup the correspondence part of this policy.

All these documents are paper clipped together and housed in this seventh category of our insurance documents.

If a cancer policy is an option and you have heard that this type of policy is not worth the annual premium, then research. In using time wisely, I weighed the cost of the premiums with the benefits available. Our policy is worth every cent we pay, but not all policies are equal.

When you do the research you might find your policy does not have these benefits. If the policy does not fit with your family’s needs, then don’t waste your money. However, don’t overlook a great option because someone lumped all the cancer policies together and stamped “refuse” on the top.

As you continue working through your piles of paperwork, keep organizing and labeling your categories for quick access in the future. Happy organizing!

Question: Do you read your insurance policies from front to back?

Filed Under: Special Health Policies, Document Organization, Box 2 Tagged With: medical insurance

Medical Benefits: Are You Using All Your Resources?

May 5, 2012 by Tracy

Photograph Credit: Microsoft Images

Medical insurance is not cheap. With the different plans and policy riders, you may have extra benefits available to you.

Though it will take some time, reviewing your medical coverage might save you money in the long run.

Paul and I hold a Cancer and Critical Illness policy. One of the riders for this policy will reimburse us $100 for our annual physical exams. Since this policy covers each member of our family, we are eligible for $500 in reimbursement.

Even though our major medical coverage pays 100% for our children’s well-child visits, Paul and I end up paying $200-$300 each for our annual visits since preventive care is not a covered cost through our policy.

Without getting on my soap box about the lack of preventive care through our major medical policy, I am thankful for the added benefits through this cancer policy to off-set the price of our preventive care.

To get our reimbursement, I have found the following system beneficial:

1. Make and keep the doctor’s appointment,

2. Within 48-hours of the visit, I contact the doctor for an itemized statement of the charges including the codes for the annual visit,

3. Write a short letter to the insurance company requesting the $100 reimbursement,

4. Fax the letter with the itemized statement, and

5. Wait for the check to arrive in the mail

By reviewing our medical benefits and policy riders, I have saved my family $500 in benefits. Taking the time to read and understand our insurance policies and riders was using time wisely and helps in stretching our dollars every year.

As you continue organizing your important documents, read your policies. You may have other resources through policy riders that will save your family money. In stretching your dollars, remember to use all your resources through your insurance policies. You already pay for the benefits, so don’t miss out. Happy savings!

Questions: How do your insurance policies help you in stretching your dollars?

Filed Under: Stretching Your Dollars, Tips Tagged With: medical insurance

Major Medical: Identification Cards

March 11, 2012 by Tracy

After taking a break last week to request our credit reports, it is time to begin another category in our document organization.

Working through our insurance paperwork in Box 2, we have completed the first two categories: Personal Insurance Documents and Life Insurance.

The third category housed in one file opening is major medical insurance. Located within this file slot of my box are the following documents:

  • Summary page
  • Identification cards
  • Benefits Guide
  • Correspondence

Summary Page

Like every other file opening in my insurance box, I keep a copy of the summary page at the front of this file. This page holds the contact information, account numbers, and instructions for filing claims.

Identification Cards

After the summary page, I keep these documents paper clipped together:

    • Copies of the front and back of our major medical identification cards
    • Paperwork sent with the identification cards
    • Website information with my username and passwords

I carry my insurance card with me, but the copies stay in this file. Should my purse get stolen or lost, I will get this  information and contact the insurance company to report the problem and ask for new cards.

If you carry major medical insurance or discount medical cards, then consider putting these documents in a safe place. You never know when you might need to contact the company or request new cards. Happy organizing!

Question: Does your insurance company still use your social security number as identification? 

Filed Under: Major Medical, Document Organization, Box 2 Tagged With: medical insurance

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