When people talked about their flexible spending account (FSA), I always wondered if it was right for me. But I didn’t want to take the time to investigate and I really didn’t want to bother with another government document.

I finally decided that I needed to look into it. After all, I might be missing something that I could be using with my group health insurance plan. (A FSA also works with a private health insurance plan offered by an employer.)

I found that the government sets up FSAs. It’s designed to help people set aside money for their deductibles, co-payments, co-insurance, and other expenses that relate to your health care (even dental), but are not covered by your health insurance coverage.

The government allows you to set up an account much like your checking account. You then make deposits directly from your paycheck, before taxes, into this account. It’s just like the the other pre-tax withholdings on your paycheck, i.e. FICA, Medicare, etc. Doing so gives you the advantage of not paying taxes on your health care and depending on how much you set aside, that advantage can be significant.

The tricky part is you have to set up how much you are going put in this account before the coverage period (usually a year) starts. It is important to remember that the money must be spent only on the area the government has allowed, which is your health care. Therefore, you will need to look at your health needs and figure how much you think you might be spending for the year on prescriptions, doctor, and hospital visits.

An FSA may be a good way to go if low cost health insurance is your goal then. The only problem I found with this program—and it’s a big one— is the government got greedy. The program requires that if you do not use all of the money that you’ve put away for the year (or coverage period) in this account, the government keeps the unused part.

I just love how the government can ruin a good program.

A HMO (Health Maintenance Organization) is a company that will find health care providers that are willing to see more patients for less money. The organization can be large enough to own some or all of the medical health care system. The HMO can own hospitals, hire their own doctors, and take care of almost all medical needs.

My company that I work for, and many other companies, offers employees an HMO health insurance plan. The premiums that the company and I pay are what I feel, competitive with other type of plans.

HMOs also offer individual and family health insurance to private uninsured citizens at very reasonable prices. So, if you need to buy your own private health insurance policy, be sure to fill the free, no obligation quote here. It’s an easy form and lets the insurance professionals do all the work in finding the best policy for you.

Concerning my own particular HMO plan, I really like it because the care providers have usually seen your medical health problems before and know how to treat them. A doctor in this system will see many patients in a day. With this type of exposure, the doctors are familiar with most illnesses and consequently, problems are more easily diagnosed.

Another advantage to an HMO, is that they work closely with many other doctors, so they can, and do, consult on the more difficult problems. I also like being able to get flu shot for a small deductible.

The problem I have with our HMO is if they feel (they being the telephone operators that takes my calls) that I do not have a serious health problem, it can take months to get to see a doctor. A recent example of this happened when I tried to schedule a physical. I couldn’t get an appointment for 6 months. Another problem I have is I am tied to their system, and it is difficult to get a second option without paying for the whole cost.

As with all businesses, the part that keeps people coming back are the people working there that personally interacts with you. The medical business is no different. The doctor you have will either make you feel like an HMO is a good health insurance plan or not.

For my family and me, a HMO healthcare plan works. I know that my HMO doctor cares and actively works with us to keep us all healthy.

I am a salesman by trade, but when I was much younger, I had a job offer to sell insurance. I spent 3 months going into people’s homes with very little success.

One day my boss said he wanted to send me out with one of his best salesman. It seemed like a good idea, so I went with him to his next appointment. The couple was in their mid-thirties; with a nice home, and said they needed health insurance.

We sat down and at the kitchen table and he began to give his sales pitch. About halfway through the husband said that he had heard enough, and that they were not interested.

I thought it was over, but the other agent stood up and started yelling at the top of his voice. He said that he had come to give them a health insurance quote and that they would listen until he was done. He sat down and began talking in a normal voice. The couple looked at each other and never said a word.

I can’t tell you how embarrassed I was. I thought we had lost the sale for sure. When he was done, he gave them a family health insurance quote and they bought the policy.

However, I knew that I would never be able sell anything as he did. I never went to another home to sell insurance. I was done!

The internet has since turned the world around. Now you can easily find free health insurance quotes from qualified professionals without the old-fashioned salesman and his archaic—and sometimes, outlandish—selling techniques in your living room.

You are thinking about buying some low cost health insurance and that is why you are here. Good choice. The question, though, is not do you need a health insurance plan; it is can you afford the monthly premiums?

I would like to tell you a personal story. My son was out playing on his bike and he hit a rock. He just tipped over and fell on his arm. When my wife and I looked at his arm, we could see that it was broken.

We took him to the hospital where we spent about 3 hours. The break was more than just a hairline fracture and it took a specialist to set and cast it. We told them that we didn’t have any family health insurance and asked to give us any price break they could. They agreed to give us a discount.

It wasn’t long before we got the bill and it was for $5,000.00. That was a lot of money, but we knew that it was going to be expensive. We even thought that it was reasonable until we looked at all the charges. I do not remember most of them, but one I will never forget was the cost of two aspirin. They were $110.00 each. It took us 2 years to pay that bill.

Now when I look at the monthly cost of my family health insurance I measure it by the number of aspirin. My monthly payments seem like cheap insurance.

My husband and I are trying to have another baby, which generated a discussion of insurance. My family of four is lucky to have family health insurance through my husband’s company. However, I have several friends that own small businesses or need private health insurance. I didn’t realize that the only company that provided prenatal care to individuals or small companies discontinued it over three years ago. One of my friends asked them why and their response was “not profitable”. They were outraged and so am I.

According to Womenshealth.gov, “babies of mothers who do not get prenatal care are three times more likely to have a low birth weight and five times more likely to die than those born to mothers who do get care.” Two of my friends can’t afford individual health insurance pay out of pocket expense to see a doctor, but both of them go less than they should. I now worry about their health and that of their unborn child.

I live in Colorado and I want to know why my state government isn’t involved? Are women and children in other states suffering these same problems? Not one Colorado candidate addressed this issue during the recent state election campaign.

One of the problems might stem from lack of adequate statistics. I haven’t been able to locate any, not for the nation nor for the state. Or maybe they are as ignorant as I was, as most candidates were male or older females. I’m not sure, but I find that I’m disturbed by the lack of care to our women and children. I wonder when this country will worry about their own people as much as they do other countries.

America’s Uninsured Statistics

The Census Bureau last reported in 2007 that over 47 million people lack health insurance. The new statistic is an increase from 2005 Census numbers showing America’s uninsured at 44.8 million. It correlates the U.S population now lacking health insurance at 15.8%, which is the highest level since 1998.

The Census also shows that there are 19.3% of American children in poverty whom lack insurance. Hispanics are the race with the highest rate of no insurance with over 15.3 million uninsured in 2006. Blacks with no insurance increased to 20.5% from 19%, while the rate of whites without insurance statistically remained the same at 10.8%. Asians are the only ones whom statistics show improved with the rate falling to 15.5% from 17.2%.

Low-income households obviously have the highest uninsured rates as many of the low-wage jobs don’t offer insurance. However, 1.3 million more workers (full and part-time) also went uninsured according to the previous 2005 Census records.

Workers are going without or declining coverage for several reasons, according to the Employee Benefit Research Institute, a non-partisan group in Washington. D.C. Insurance premiums, which are rising faster than wages, are causing workers to struggle with the cost, so they’re declining coverage. Employers are also offering fewer options.

A typical family plan offered by employers is approximately $11,480.00. Consequently, fewer workers are enrolling, even when employers do provide insurance. The most surprising–and scary–statistic that the Census Bureau provided is that the uninsured rate rose fastest among households with annual incomes above $75,000, going from 7.7% in 2005 to 8.5%.

Health insurance deductions come out of your check before taxes, which makes it more valuable per dollar than the same amount in taxable pay. Generally, health insurance companies pay lower prices to doctors and hospitals than you would pay on your own.