Inforgraphic on Childproofing Your Home

This may not be totally relevant to readers; however, grandparents who have little children coming over could find it useful.

Courtesy: HomeInsurance.org with this graphic.
The Ultimate Childproofing Guide

New Resource Provides In-Depth Research into Senior Communitiies

Anyone who has ever had to choose a senior living community can tell you how difficult and stressful the decision is. It is a ton of research and, depending on your familiarity with the industry, it can be hard to know what questions to ask. But I just found this great resource to help make the process easier. Silver Living is a new company researching independent and assisted living for seniors. The website is free, easy to use, and offers several features previously unavailable in the market.

Silver Living conducts independent research. They are not influenced by community owners, so the information you find there is presented objectively, written by experts in the field who know what to look for – not by a marketing department offering a sales pitch. The photos are likewise independent, with no editing or deceptive angles.åÊ

The price calculator asks a series of questions about the type of care you need and gives a good estimate of what your upfront and monthly costs will be at a given community. This is a great time saver ‰ÛÒ no need to call and visit a bunch of communities that are not even close to your price range.

Their tools allow you to define your search parameters to find exactly what you need. You can search for the price range, care needs, and amenities that fit your specific situation. If bringing along a pet or having transportation for appointments are deal breakers, you can narrow down the list before spending time on additional research.

Once you‰Ûªve found your short list of locations, you can contact the community or book your tour directly from the website. Overall, this makes it much easier to find a community that meets your care and budget needs without spending many hours gathering the info yourself. Check out Silver Living and let them know what you think.

Four Ways to Engage High-Deductible Health Care Plans

Health Insurance
Visiting the doctor, whether for a routine check-up or a life-saving procedure, has always been a source of anxiety for many, largely due to the many unknowns, big words, and frightening discoveries that the patient can encounter.

While health insurance is intended to make health care more affordable, and it is considered a “benefit” for employees who receive it from their employers, it carries its own baggage in the form of complex plans, terms and conditions that are easy to misunderstand, and countless other “gotchas” that hit directly where it hurts the most: in the wallet.

The rising cost of health care has led employers to seek out lower cost options. One of those is a high-deductible health care plan, and it reduces the cost for employers while increasing the cost for employees until they meet their high-dollar deductible. Once the insurance kicks in, the plan does pay a large percentage of the medical costs sometimes as much as 100 percent but up until that point, the expenses can burden employees and their families.

For those with a high-deductible health care plan, being insured no longer means just being a patient. It now means becoming a consumer in the health care market. Truly understanding the insurance documentation can be overwhelming, and those who surf the Internet to learn more about these plans are confronted by never-ending, but difficult to understand details, lingo, and small print. This leads to uninformed customers who don’t know the ins-and-outs of their health-care plans, and who risk an unexpected financial burden, should something happen to them or their family. Subsequently, this lack of understanding can lead employees to avoid medical care altogether for fear of the costs.
Fortunately, high-deductible health-care plans, also referred to as consumer-driven health care plans, can be effective for employees and their families, but it requires time and effort. Following are four tips for making high-deductible health-care plans work.

Thoroughly Understand the Plan
A key to planning for your medical costs for the year is to understand the coverage. Make sure to thoroughly review your high-deductible health care plan, and consult with your employer and the insurance plan manager to better understand not only what is covered, but what is not. It is critical to understand the deductible and the percentage of coverage that the plan covers after you meet it. Most importantly, don’t be afraid to ask questions. As the old adage goes, there are no dumb questions, and this is particularly true when making medical decisions with financial implications in a bad economy.

Inquire About Doctor and Procedure Costs
When a customer takes their car to a mechanic for repairs, they always get an estimate before the work is done. This is a valid approach for doctor’s visits, too. Call the doctor to learn about the cost of a routine visit and any tests that may be required while there. Get cost information about surgeries or procedures prior to scheduling them. And touch base with your health-care plan manager to see if there is any way to negotiate some of the costs, or if they have recommendations for lower cost options for medication.

Choose a Doctor that is “In-Network”
If the high-deductible plan is a preferred provider organization, which they usually are, employees are encouraged to use a doctor that is “in-network,” or in a contract with the plan. Plans cover more of the costs for doctors who are “in-network” versus “out-of-network,” making it financially wise to choose a doctor recommended by the insurance company.

Enroll in a Health Savings Account
Most high-deductible health care plans have an option for a health savings account, or HSA. This is essentially a dedicated savings account that employees can deposit money into on a recurring basis. In many cases, employees can choose a direct deposit of pre-tax dollars from their pay checks. Not only will this soften the blow when medical care is required, but any money spent from the HSA account for health care costs goes toward the deductible.
It is no secret that increasing health-care costs are leading employers to less expensive insurance options for their employees, such as high-deductible health care plans. These plans not only come with a higher out-of-pocket cost for employees, but also require them to truly understand and manage their insurance, making them consumers as well as patients. Fortunately, with a thorough understanding of the plans, a willingness to ask questions of both doctors and insurers, and benefits from features such as HSAs, this type of health care can be manageable.

About the Author
As the CEO of Vertical Health, patient care advocate Bill Paquin works to convey accurate health information to consumers. He operates web sites including SpineUniverse.com and other sites focused on improving patient care associated with back pain and endocrine disorders. Bill is a husband, father and chronic pain sufferer who writes about improving our current healthcare system.

caregiver summit

null

null

Contact

4contact_anthony_button

Senior Smilecast (Podcast)

Free Caregiver Sur-Thrival Guide –

Free Caregiver Sur-Thrival Guide

Want to know how to turn caregiving from a burden to an opportunity? Sign up for our newsletter and receive this free 55-page guide as well as a white paper that can guide your community and health providers in becoming dementia friendly. It's not about surviving caregiving. It's about thriving!

30 Day Caregiver Support Program

Aging Insider

aging insider-1-300x300px

SixtyandMe.com

Caring Champtions

Top Senior Site

Top Senior Site

Purple Angel

purple angel

Sharecare With Dr. Oz

Boomer News from Alltop