If you looking to purchase a new health plan, take your time and locate an experience broker to help you. He or she can go over all the best health insurance options that you have in the state of Illinois. A good broker can go over the differences between the long list of carriers to choose from and the best HSA Health Savings Accounts or the original conventional PPO plans that you have had for years. Our website utilizes two quote engines to make it easy for you to find the best plan design and premium to fit your budget. Finding the best best health insurance plan should not be difficult especially with the help of a good advisor.

Study Links Medical Costs and Personal Bankruptcy

Harvard researchers say 62% of all personal bankruptcies in the U.S. in 2007 were caused by health problems—and 78% of those filers had insurance

By Catherine Arnst

Medical problems caused 62% of all personal bankruptcies filed in the U.S. in 2007, according to a study by Harvard researchers. And in a finding that surprised even the researchers, 78% of those filers had medical insurance at the start of their illness, including 60.3% who had private coverage, not Medicare or Medicaid.

Medically related bankruptcies have been rising steadily for decades. In 1981, only 8% of families filing for bankruptcy cited a serious medical problem as the reason, while a 2001 study of bankruptcies in five states by the same researchers found that illness or medical bills contributed to 50% of all filings. This newest, nationwide study, conducted before the start of the current recession by Drs. David Himmelstein and Steffie Woolhandler of Harvard Medical School, Elizabeth Warren of Harvard Law School, and Deborah Thorne, a sociology professor at Ohio University, found that the filers were for the most part solidly middle class before medical disaster hit. Two-thirds owned their home and three-fifths had gone to college.

But medically bankrupt families with private insurance reported average out-of pocket medical bills of $17,749, while the uninsured’s bills averaged $26,971. Of the families who started out with insurance but lost it during the course of their illness, medical bills averaged $22,658. “For middle-class Americans, health insurance offers little protection. Most of us have policies with so many loopholes, co-payments, and deductibles that illness can put you in the poorhouse,” said lead author Himmelstein. “Unless you’re Warren Buffett, your family is just one serious illness away from bankruptcy.”

The study underscores President Barack Obama’s arguments in calling for health-care reform legislation this year. In a letter to Democratic Senate leaders this week, the President said: “Health-care reform is not a luxury. It’s a necessity we cannot defer. Soaring health-care costs make our current course unsustainable. It is unsustainable for our families, whose spiraling premiums and out-of-pocket expenses are pushing them into bankruptcy and forcing them to go without the checkups and prescriptions they need.”

Arnst is a senior writer for BusinessWeek based in New York.

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (the Affordable Care Act) requires that individual health policies sold Sept. 23, 2010 or later include all consumer protections as detailed in the Affordable Care Act.  The Affordable Care Act allows policies sold prior to Sept. 23, 2010 to transition to the new consumer protections at the beginning of the next policy year.  Policies effective on or before Mar. 23, 2010 could be classified as “grandfathered” policies; meaning that the policy may not include certain protections of the Affordable Care Act that apply to other individual health policies.

These are the four new changes being implemented on 09/23/2010

• Elimination of annual and lifetime dollar limits on benefits
• Extension of the dependent age limit to age 26
• Elimination of preexisting condition exclusions for individuals under the age of 19
• 100% coverage for certain preventive and well care services

Between the White House, the House of Representative and the Congress, the average American is very confused about the future of their healthcare system as we know it now. The final design of the bill should be completed upon "reconciliation" between the House and the Senate around the latter part of January or possible into February. One of the biggest features of the bill was originally intended to lower the cost of health insurance. The final outcome will actually raise the American's premium to a point where they are higher that they already are. This is normally standard procedure when politicians get involved with anything that has to do with expenses or taxes so this should not be a surprise to any one. We should be seeing a provision in the insurance plans where no one with pre-existing conditions should be denied coverage, which is a great feature. It appears that all forms of socialist type government run insurance has been declared dead in the water, which is the best part of the new bill. All we can do now is wait for the bill to be completed and see what the politicians are currently forcing on us again. Be it good or evil.

The health insurance agent/broker is very instrumental in helping you find the best plan for the premium that will fit your budget. Your broker’s job consists of many different tasks.

1. Helping you choose the most appropriate company to apply to.

2. Helping you find the most effective plan design.

3. Pre-Screening any medical conditions you might have.

4. Walking you through the health insurance application process.

5. Answering any and all questions you might have in order for you to make the best buying decision.

6. Being there to help you well after your insurance plan has been placed into force for any customer service related issues or problems. Keep in mind that insurance company employees have no personal or financial interest in making sure you are happy with your plan or getting your problem resolved like your agent/broker.

Keep in mind that the brokers help is at no cost to you period. The insurance company compensates them for all their time and effort.

The premiums charged by the carriers are regulated in the state of Illinois which means the premiums are the same if you purchase from an agent or broker or buy direct from the company itself.