Insurance World

Most Americans are struggling to afford health insurance. In just the past few years, the cost of buying health insurance for your family has skyrocketed. I was talking with an insurance agent recently, who told me it’s not unusual at all for his clients to be paying $1,000 to $1,400 per month for their family to be covered.

I don’t know many people who can easily afford those kinds of monthly insurance payments. Most who are paying them are making major sacrifices in other areas. The vast majority of Americans put health coverage very high on their list of priorities, so the other things that get left behind might surprise you. No question, the quality of life is far lower for many people now that they pay so much to be insured.

Meanwhile, many employers are cutting back their employees’ insurance coverage. Professions that once paid all their employees’ health insurance premiums — like teachers and firefighters — are finding the employee footing the bill for larger and larger portions of their insurance.

How are people coping? Many Americans simply don’t have health insurance anymore. That’s a big problem not only for families, who often put off going to the doctor, but also for society in general. People who hesitate buying medicine or seeing a doctor often end up very sick in hospital emergency rooms.

Others are simply reducing the amount of health insurance they have. They pay a larger portion of their doctor visits and prescription medicine costs. If you are a young adult, it may not make a lot of sense to pay huge insurance premiums to be covered for major illnesses that you are very unlikely to experience.

There are a growing number of health insurance plans that let you pick and choose the areas of coverage you want to pay for. While this practice was prohibited in many states, more and more places are seeing the wisdom and necessity of this approach.

Even more pressing than the cost of health insurance is the cost of buying prescription medicines. Many people simply can’t afford the spiraling cost of the medicines they need. Others might insist, willingly lowering their standard of living just to afford overpriced medicine. The solution to this problem increasingly has nothing to do with insurance. Organizations use their large pool of members to negotiate big discounts on prescription drugs at thousands of chain and independent pharmacies nationwide. Typically you can save up to 60% off generic drugs and up to 15% off name-brand drugs.

This is a big advantage for the elderly, families, businesses, organizations, and anyone who wants to lower their cost of medicine. Additionally, some programs also cover medicine for your pets. If you often care for an ill animal, this can save you a lot of money over time.

Unlike insurance, discount drug programs are often very low cost or free. Pharmacies participate in the discount programs to encourage you to buy from them. It’s a win-win for both you and the medical industry.

People spend a lot of money on complicated financial products and it is sometimes difficult to keep track of what products perform what tasks. Many people are not aware of all the financial products that are available or they only know of them vaguely. They may not know how much they cost or the potential benefits they offer. How can consumers make informed decisions on what products they would be willing to buy if they do not have this basic information? This problem can often lead to consumers buying unsuitable of overpriced products simply because they feel they should have some financial protections available but don’t have the details to make an informed choice.

One of the common questions many consumers have is regarding the difference between insurance policies and assurance policies. Put simply, insurance policies cover the costs of an event that might happen while assurance policies will pay out on the occurrence of an event that is certain to happen. Insurance policies only last for a specific period of time. If the event occurs within that time, they pay out, otherwise they are finished. Therefore, if no claim can be made within the term of the policy, they have no remaining value.

Guaranteed Payout

An assurance policy is different. Assurance policies always pay out. For example, a life assurance policy will generally pay out upon death or upon reaching the age of 65. How does this policy work? Well, they combine two elements; an insurance element, which will pay out if, the person dies early. This will then be used to pay for the funeral or support his family. But then there is another payment made every year and this is the investment portion. The insurance company invests this part of the premium on behalf of the policyholder and when they reach the age of 65, they pay this out. Life assurance policies are therefore often used both as a method of life insurance and as a method of saving for retirement.

Do You Need Money Now?

If you wish to cash in the investment portion of a life assurance policy early this is generally possible. However, there will usually be hefty penalties added to this so it is unadvisable to cash in early if you don’t have to. The distinction between insurance and assurance is also becoming more blurred as more companies offer both types of policy or add features of one type of policy to their other type to make them more attractive. The distinction is still important so that you know what to ask for and know what kinds of facilities are available for insuring your life and providing for your future.