Insurance World

If you live in the Commonwealth of Virginia and are looking for low cost health insurance, you and/or your children may be eligible for coverage under one or more of the three FAMIS health plans sponsored by the Commonwealth.

The three FAMIS (Families Access to Medical Insurance Security) plans are as follows:

FAMIS – The Children’s Health Insurance Program: This program for children covers services such as:

doctor visits
Well-baby checkups
Hospital visits
Vaccinations
Prescription medicine
Tests and x rays
Dental care
Emergency care
Vision care
Mental health care

FAMIS – Moms: This program provides health care for pregnant women up to two months after the pregnancy.

Smiles for Children: This program provides diagnostic, preventive, restorative/surgical procedures and orthodontics (Basically the same coverage as provided through Medicaid) Since this program is primarily for children, it provides limited necessary diagnostic/oral surgery services for adults (emergency only)

The beauty of this program is that the co-payments are only $2.00 or $5.00. Regular check-ups are free and there are no monthly premiums or enrollment costs. With Smiles for Children, there are no co-payments or cost for dental services. However, you must use dental providers that are within the network.

To qualify for any of the FAMIS programs the applicant must be a US citizen under 19 (for the Children’s program), live in Virginia and not covered by another plan. You must not have had insurance for 4 months and are not eligible for Medicaid. There are also income requirements. For example, the gross income for a family of 4 must not exceed $40,000 annually. The FAMIS website (http://www.famis.org ) has a family income calculator in which potential insureds may check their income to see if they qualify.

The Commonwealth of Virginia realizes that quality medical care is important, and has successfully provided a low cost health insurance program for their low income residents.

Today’s advancements in computers and technology make many tasks easier than they were years ago. Computers and technology aid us in our personal lives as well as professional lives. Most young people probably can’t imagine a world without computers and technology, and most older people probably can’t imagine going back to that world. Thanks to computers and technology, we work online, we play online – we do just about everything online!

A popular trend today is the act of purchasing insurance policies online. Health insurance, life insurance, automobile insurance – you name an insurance, and it can probably be purchased online thanks to computers and technology. This is a great convenience for some folks. Think about it: who wants to make a detour on their commute home from a long day of work to talk with an insurance agent about purchasing an insurance policy? Wouldn’t most people rather go home to spend time with their families and relax before the next day begins?

While computers and technology make it much easier to spend more time enjoying these kinds of leisurely activities, they also make it much easier for us to lose connection with real people. By purchasing insurance online, you’re saving time and effort, but you’re also losing the important, yet overlooked, benefit of speaking with an insurance agent one-on-one, face-to-face. At the very most, the only human interaction you’re going to have by purchasing insurance online is speaking with a representative over the phone.

This isn’t to say that you should avoid the perks of today’s computers and technology, such as purchasing insurance online; however, you should make sure you have the chance to get some one-on-one time with an insurance agent – even if that one-on-one time is only over the phone. Rather than the conversation consisting solely of a brief synopsis of the coverage and your credit card number, ask specific questions, and make sure to get thoroughly detailed answers.