Four Little-Known Yet Interesting Facts about Health Insurance

The world of insurance is just one aspect of life that we may not find interesting enough, yet it is a mandatory part of life. However, in different parts of the world, health insurance spins interesting connotations that you never thought existed in the first place. For instance, did you know that Japan has golf insurance? Think of it. It does make sense. What if you get hit by a golf ball? Meanwhile, in another part of the world, KISS bassist Gene Simmons got his tongue insured, and the insured money runs in millions. If you found that surprising, wait till you read the other facts on insurance.

Cutting Down on Emergency Costs

While we think that most medical issues may be emergencies, chances are these may not be emergencies after all. In most cases, the patients are treated by their primary physicians or an urgent care facility. So, they may not be true emergencies. Emergency rooms are expensive. It is said that at least $18 billion could be saved annually if the true nature of the patient’s health problem is rightly diagnosed and treated.

In fact, extensive research carried out by various non-profit organizations proved that at least $90 million of medical costs spent on emergency visits was deemed unnecessary, which accounted for 40% of emergency visits. So, if you can reduce emergency room use, you can save the insurer a lot of money. It also helps that emergency rooms are less crowded, meaning people who really need one can find one in time.

Credit Score Can Impact Health Insurance Costs

You may know about credit scores that can impact the mortgage interest rates that you may have been offered. However, you may not know about the credit-based insurance scores that may influence the insurance premiums, quoted to you. There are a few states such as California, Maryland, and Massachusetts that prohibit their use. The bottom line is how you manage your money will also reflect how you file your insurance claims. So, it is important to improve your credit score to get better health insurance claims.

The Difference Between Affordable Care Act and Obamacare

The launch of the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, was taken with a pinch of salt by many Americans; while some Americans supported it whole-heartedly there were some who didn’t like it at all. However, an interesting tidbit about the same is that millions of Americans don’t realize that the Affordable Care Act and Obamacare are one and the same thing.

Let’s find out what is the Affordable Care Act? The Affordable Care Act (ACA) is the comprehensive healthcare reform introduced by President Barack Obama in March 2010. Also known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and often called Obamacare, the law includes a number of healthcare policies that make health insurance accessible to millions of uninsured Americans.

History of Health Insurance

Hospitals in Texas first banded together in 1929 to enable patients to pay for care. The first health insurance in this regard was Blue Cross, which helped cover the costs of a hospital stay. Dallas-area teachers were some of the first people who had to benefit from hospital expense coverage for a return of 50-cent monthly premium.

Eventually, the idea was spread far and wide by the local media and spread through the north Texas area until there were a whopping three million people who became members of the Blue Cross in 1939. The plans would cover $5 a day, 21-day hospital stay, which today can set a person back by $525. This type of insurance allowed teachers and other modest income-earners a means of avoiding bankruptcy if they had to keep bankruptcy at bay. Unlike today’s health coverage, Blue Cross began as a not-for-profit organization to keep hospitals open and fulfilled the goal of helping with people’s finances.

Initially, health insurance was designed to only resolve major problems. If you needed to go to the hospital or to get surgery, that was what the insurance would help pay for. It was not originally there to pay for doctor visits or preventative care. Those things were left to the individual. Of course with time health insurance evolved to cover the rising expenses of health care, By 1994, the original Blue Cross organization went over a significant policy shift allowing for subsidiaries to become for-profit insurers. Although still not-for-profit, 95 cents per dollar of paid premiums were kept for covering medical care. The policy shift meant the amount dropped to an average of 80 cents per dollar, in some cases even less. The introduction of the Affordable Care Act ensured that people changed their perception towards insurance, pay more premiums for health care, and give health insurance the importance it deserves.

Were you aware of these strange yet interesting facts about health insurance?