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Financial Aspects of Health Care Delivery Essays

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Financial Aspects of Health Care Delivery

Lashunda Brown

University of Phoenix

HCS/310 Health Care Delivery in the U.S.

Delores Usea

June 18, 2012
With the high cost of health care today, health insurance continuation is an important consideration for many unemployed individuals, job changers, dependents of covered workers, and retirees who no longer receive employer-provided benefits. Despite several laws in effect that make it possible to extend employer-provided health insurance, some workers continue to experience "job lock." This is a situation where workers, particularly those with pre-existing health conditions, feel that they must remain in a particular job for fear of losing their health insurance coverage. Many …show more content…

The best time to buy a policy is generally age 55 to 60. If you wait too long, premiums increase significantly and/or you could become uninsurable through some type of medical diagnosis. Premiums are lower in your 40s or early 50s but you could be paying them for a long time before coverage is needed.
COBRA benefits should be viewed as a “stopgap” until long-term health insurance (e.g., a new employer’s policy, a guaranteed renewable individual policy, or Medicare) is secured. For example, someone can retire at age 63 ½ and pay COBRA premiums for 18 months until Medicare eligibility at 65. A major disadvantage of COBRA for younger retirees is the potential for developing a serious health condition while on COBRA that makes it difficult or impossible to later buy affordable individual coverage. The longer people live, the more likely they will need assistance with activities of daily living (ADLs), such as bathing and eating. Nearly half of all Americans will need long-term care at some point in their life. Those most at risk are single, female, have no available support system living within 25 miles, and have had frequent falls and bone fractures, serious heart or lung problems, or a stroke.
Key features in the selection of a long-term care policy include: the amount of daily coverage, the length of coverage, types of benefits, the elimination period, the method of making inflation adjustments, and number of activities of

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