Kamini is a thought leader and expert when it comes to Marketing for Consumer Goods companies. Four months ago, she joined her current marketing consultancy after stints with consumer majors spanning over two decades.

Kamini has had a mild Asthma since childhood but never had to worry about her medical bills, insurance, or health facilities or type of accommodation her entire work life. All the companies she worked for over the years had excellent group insurance coverage, generous medical allowances with no caveats on which hospital to choose and what room type to stay, what tests were allowed or the type of hospital facilities.

Kamini took to running about a decade and a half ago, initially to fight Asthma and later because she fell in love with it, and hasn’t had an Asthma attack over the last 10 years. Though she still carries an inhaler and uses it once in a while, she has enjoyed a period of complete well being all these years. She is a regular at half marathons over the last 5 years, seizing every pportunity to run in the region whenever her busy schedule and family commitments permitted.

Two years ago, she was advised to stop running and choose less impact exercise regime as the wear and tear caused by her years of running were taking a heavy toll on her knees. Though she modified her work outs, she just couldn’t give up running totally.

Last May, she underwent a knee surgery and after a two month break, she was able to hit the road and was overjoyed at how new and wonderful the knees felt.

Two months ago, after she moved companies to join the current consulting major, she developed minor complications and had to get her knees re-examined. The first minor shock came when the insurance company declined her reimbursement citing pre-existing condition and that the coverage kicks in only after 12 months of continued employment.

Three weeks ago, she was advised by her knee surgeon to undergo a minor surgery to correct a small bone correction to improve the knee movement as a residual outcome of prior operation. The estimated cost, including hospitalization and surgery has been put at Rs. 2,50,000.

Kamini has two choices, get it operated now and pay the amount from her pocket (the company medical benefits would cover roughly 10% of the cost) or wait another eight months and then use the company insurance. It’s not a big amount, considering she is in the top tier salary bracket but what really got her worried was when she went shopping for a personal insurance coverage, no insurance company was willing to cover or quote and cited this is standard industry procedure.

Kamini anyway went ahead and bought personal health coverage with the exclusion of her knee with a promise to get the exclusion reexamined after a year of healthy living and was also able to negotiate on her Asthma coverage with a slight increase in premium considering she has been healthy all these years with no major problems. She has also modified her work outs to include cross training and cycling and now runs only once a week.

Kamini’s case isn’t unique, it’s what most of us think is an outlier, something that doesn’t affect us until someone close to us gets hit similarly when it suddenly takes center stage.

Group health insurance plans in general are company specific and cannot be ported over when we move employers. A pre-existing condition that one could have enjoyed coverage from a particular insurer may no longer be covered for another 12 months when one moves employers (or more or never depending upon the group health insurance plan) even if the insurer across the two companies is the same.

In addition, even when ported over, it may no longer come at the same premium or with same level of coverage.

Most people in their healthy and early years laugh off the idea of personal health insurance when this is precisely the best time when one should go for a health plan.

Not only it is much much cheaper for a person in his twenties vs. someone 20 years older (a quick check for a healthy male, in the age group of 20-25yrs vs. one in the age group of 40-45yrs, show a premium differential of approx 40% (approx Rs 4,000)* for a total yearly coverage of approx Rs 10lacs), a healthy body also would ensure no specific exclusions like Kamini’s.

Some of the insurers also provide coverage for pre-existing illness after you have been a policy holder for a few years. Spiralling medical bills can drain savings and in worse situations could wreak havoc on your assets and retirement planning. A personal health plan would ensure you would never have periods where you wouldn’t be fully covered when you move companies or decide to take a break or start something of your own, or god forbid, made redundant. These are the exact times when the last thing you would want would to be worrying about are money and your health.

So run a quick online check, avoid rude shocks of hefty medical bills or compromising on the medical facilities, or type of room or tests because you can’t afford it. Talk to an insurance expert who can help assess your need and advise you what plan works best taking your lifestyle, savings and income into account. It’s a small price to pay for complete peace of mind.

Before opting for a particular health insurance, just go ahead and compare health insurance options that are available in order to reap the maximum benefits of health coverage that can help in preventing problems in the days ahead. But an individual who looks at comparable coverage will observe that the target of all these health policies is preventive care. After having a look at the various health policies and their premiums, select the one that is ideal for you as well as your family. Though the premiums of these policies vary with respect to gender, age and several other factors, but this should not make you think that all these health insurance policies are very expensive and it will be impossible for you to pay the premiums. Choose those policies which are within your budget and cover yourself and your family against health related problems.

There are two popular types of Managed Care as far as health insurance in Florida is concerned. They are PPO (Preferred Provider Organization) insurance plans and HMO (Health Maintenance Organization) insurance plans. Majority of the Florida individual health insurance plans belong to any of these two categories. At Florida, you will also get Indemnity insurance plans but they are very expensive when compared to PPO insurance plans and HMO insurance plans. You can opt for a Florida HMO insurance plan when you need lower co-payments and you are comfortable in using the healthcare providers within the system. You can opt for a Florida PPO insurance plan when you require a much broader range of network providers and out-of-network coverage. You can also go for the Florida HSA (PPO) if you are looking forward to lowering the net cost of the Florida health insurance.

Compare health insurance policies before making your final choice so as to grab the right policy. It is also needed for minor children and students. Like for instance if you are in Florida, then you can opt for any of the Florida individual health insurance plans mentioned above. The choice is ultimately yours!

As the days go by we do not know what misfortunes may come upon us. For example, you may have to visit a medical expert due to some health complications and the expert will recommend that you go to a hospital for admission. This situation will suddenly call for you to produce a huge sum of money for medication and hospital bills. It can all happen suddenly and unexpectedly and you cannot afford to risk your health.

If you are rich, then you could easily get by this type of problem. However, for most low income earners, and everyone else this serves as one great challenge for their families. That is why insurance plans are considered as effective solution to this problem and even though they cost you money they will save you a lot more money in the long run.

Health insurance plans safeguard the money of low income earners and it is increasingly used as a means to secure peoples health future as well. To be able to get appropriate medical support in times of illness a health plan is needed when you don’t have cash in hand.

If you think that purchasing health plans are an additional bill that would greatly reduce your budget then you are definitely mistaken. Due to the large number of insurance providers there has been a surplus of these types of services and more and more plans are affordable at cheap competitive rates. You can now get health plans without hurting your budget.

For you to be able to get cheap premium rates you must take note of a few important things. Insurance companies give a higher price rate for people who easily get sick so keep your body fit and healthy to get low health plan rates. If you have a medical condition your insurance provider will give you a specific coverage that addresses your health needs.

When you have already determined your health needs the next thing to do is to find a perfect health insurance company to sign a contract with. You can ask your friends, family or insurance broker for good health insurance quotes that are relevant for you. You can also search the internet for health insurance companies and select which plans cover your needs.

What are you waiting for? Secure your future right away and get a health insurance plan for you and your family.