American Consumer News » health care

Why Health Is an Important Factor in Your Finances

tisha — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 13:00:54 +0000

Money matters have a huge impact on human beings and when you are wrapped up in the middle of financial matters that are difficult, it can be easy to forget about the other important aspects of your life.

Your health is obviously important but what you may not realize is just how much damage your money problems are causing. People who struggle on a weekly or even daily basis to stretch their paychecks and support their families may have developed health concerns that are specifically related to money issues.

Here are some issues you need to consider about your finances, your health, and your future:

Stress Can Kill

Never underestimate the power of stress. If you battle ongoing stress over money matters in your daily life, you can be doing some serious damage to your heart, nerves, and overall immune system. Being stressed out on a long-term basis will eventually lead to more serious health conditions, including death. Stress often takes a toll over a long period of time without major recognizable symptoms. It is important to find ways to reduce stress in your life such as through exercise and hobbies you enjoy.

Missed Health Checkups

Many people cut costs in order to get by during hard financial times. One cost they often cut first is annual visits to their doctor, especially if they lack insurance coverage and can’t afford the cost of the visit. It is very important to your health to stay in touch with your doctor and make sure you are having your health evaluated, especially if you are enduring a lot of stress in your life. Missed health checkups on a regular basis can result in missed opportunities for an early diagnosis of a medical condition.

Missed Medications

It is no secret that medicine is expensive. For those that do not have prescription coverage for importance maintenance medication, paying the monthly costs can be near-impossible. However, neglecting to take prescribed medicines as directed by your doctor can have adverse effects on your health and lead to even more expensive medical problems down the line.

New Health Developments

Sometimes financial matters in your personal life can become so out of control, your mental health suffers as a result. There are increased statistics of suicides and even criminal acts by people who felt alone in their financial hardship. It is important to seek treatment and a proper diagnosis when you begin to feel overwhelmed and out of control. Without maintaining a healthy outlook on life, you can put yourself at risk for making poor decisions. There are free resources for mental health care and those who worry about being overwhelmed with their daily lives should seek help.

Growing Debts

If you do not pay attention to your health and find ways to reduce the amount of stress you are under, you are likely going to end up with even bigger debts when you can no longer go on without a medical intervention. If you suffer a heart attack or other stress-related situation, you will add medical bills and extended treatment costs to your already-overwhelming debt loads. Serious medical complications can also put you out of work for a long period of time which means you have even less income to work with.

Don’t neglect your health. You can start contributing to a separate savings account using funds from each paycheck. Even if you are putting $5 or $10 a week into the account, you can build up a nice little backup funding source when medical emergencies strike. This fund should be allowed to continue growing and only used for medical expenses especially if you have a family history of medical complications. You can also seek additional assistance in your local community where free or low-cost services are available to ensure you and your family gets the health care needed on a regular basis and prevent mounting medical debts associated with untreated and undiagnosed medical conditions.

Why Health Is an Important Factor in Your Finances was created by and is property of American Consumer News.

Price Check on Gallbladder Surgery, Aisle 3

tisha — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 14:31:01 +0000

Many Americans are now faced with paying cash from their own pockets when it comes to health care procedures. Oftentimes it is because they can not afford the insurance or because their insurance will not cover certain medical costs. As the prices of healthcare continue to skyrocket, patients are often left at a disadvantage because the only resource they have about medical procedures and costs comes right from the doctor billing them. Even patients with insurance are finding they must meet higher deductibles and pay higher co-pay for treatment.

However, as technology tends to do, patients who need to know the fair price of different medical procedures can now use sites like Health Care Blue Book. This site in particular is free to use and available to help consumers make more informed decisions about financial and medical matters. It allows visitors to type in a medical procedure and find out the costs of the procedure itself as well as how much it will cost for hospitalization during recovery time. Consumers can search by zip code to get more accurate pricing.

The site search results also provide descriptions of what the procedures entail and a break down of different costs if applicable. The website covers hospital procedures both surgical and non-surgical, lab work, physician visits and care, cosmetic medical procedures, dental work, and even hearing aids.

In the Resource section of the Healthcare Blue Book, consumers can learn about healthcare, insurance, and pricing to get a better handle on their situation. There are several articles and a Frequently Asked Questions section to help people understand how things work, including the website itself.

Navigating the site is very easy and searches are simple to understand. You can also print off your specific search results to make it easier to discuss pricing and procedures with your doctor. In the interest of saving money and avoid being taken for a financial ride, the more consumers know about their own healthcare, the more likely they are to save money and hassle.

Healthcare Blue Book also provides resources for providers and employers. This is beneficial for both groups because patients who know what to expect are more likely to have the cash in hand and be ready and able to pay. For providers, this reduces the need for bill collections and allows them to advertise to cash-only patients who are looking for treatment. For employers, there are many tool available to support health care plans they are considering for employees as well as employee resources for those who are not eligible for coverage.

Price Check on Gallbladder Surgery, Aisle 3 was created by and is property of American Consumer News.

Your Luggage Can Hurt You This Holiday

tisha — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 10:48:35 +0000

Many consumers thought it was just the added cost of bringing luggage with you on a plane that had them a little sick but your luggage and how you pack it can also be the cause of some serious medical conditions.

During the holiday rush, it can be all too easy to forgo our health and safety over the priority of getting the perfect gift or making it to grandma’s house on time. We drive to fast, eat too much, and care too little about our own bodies. Luggage may be an underrated avenue you should pay more attention to while traveling for the holiday season.

For instance, last year over 50,000 people were seen in emergency rooms or doctor’s offices due to serious strains and tears of muscles resulting from luggage that wasn’t packed or carried properly. It can be extra dangerous during the holidays, when families are loading up on presents and special things they need to take along. However, not paying attention to the load you are carrying can do some serious harm to your back, arms, and legs – leaving you in some serious pain, some big medical bills, and the huge inconvenience of being on bed rest during the holidays.

Experts recommend that you pay close attention to how you are packing. Stick with several smaller bags than one large suitcase. You will find more balance by carrying a couple of bags in both hands rather than one large bag thrown over your shoulder. Make sure you carry uour bags close to your body.

Those who are flying with luggage as a carry-on in hopes of avoiding the rising airline luggage fees, need to be sure they place their baggage in the overhead compartment carefully and not just throw it up on the shelf and slam the door. Use both hands to live the bag and store it in a stable position amongst the other bags.

Remember to ask for help if you can not manage the bags on your own. The airport likely has curb-side porters ready to take your bags right from your car.

Your health during the holidays should be a priority. Recognizing that even little things like luggage can hurt in the long-run can keep you safer and healthier. Consumers are reminded too that an ounce of prevention can keep away pricey trips to the emergency room and doctor’s offices, especially when you are out of town visiting and you get injured.

Your Luggage Can Hurt You This Holiday was created by and is property of American Consumer News.

How Much Are Your Benefits Worth?

Debbie — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 14:57:41 +0000

Would you exchange any of your work benefits for a higher salary?

The answer will probably depend on your personal circumstances, but the question will cause most people to consider how much their benefits are actually worth to them. Chances are- the benefits you receive from your full time employment are worth more than you think.

100% Value- Many companies offer benefits packages that represent an additional 100% of value to the average employee’s base salary. In other words- the cost of the benefits the employee receives is equivalent to the amount they receive in salary. If you make $40,000 a year and get $40,000 a year in benefits- it gives you a bigger picture of what you actually earn from your employment, doesn’t it?

Pension/healthcare: In some instances, employees will receive a pension and/or health insurance even after they’ve retired. If this is the case for your place of employment, you are likely receiving more than 100% of your salary in benefits over the long term.

You’ll hear often people comparing their salaries to the national averages for their job industry, or sayign they aren’t being paid enough for their work. You will probably never hear anyone talking abotu the value of their health insurance, vision coverage, dental insurance, vacation time, sick time, flexible schedules, or paid training benefits!

Benefits are costly for employers. As employees, it’s a mistake to ignore their dollar value when you are evaluating your compensation package. Most people think they don’t make enough money- but look beyond your salary because if you didn’t have the benefits you receive from your employment, your salary would be worth a lot less! Paying for your health care, vision, and dental work would eat an even bigger chunk of your salary if you didn’t have benefits- and you wouldn’t receive a dime if you decided to take your annual two-week vacation.

Time off: If you earn $50,000 a year and get 3 weeks (15 days) of vacation, your time off is worth $2,885. If you also get another 5 days of sick time each year, worth $962, your total time off is almost worth $3,850.

Health Insurance: In 2007, the average annual premium for family coverage was $12,106. Average employees would pay $3,281 towards that cost- which means the other $8,825 was paid by your employer.

Not considering dental or vision plans, life insurance, retirement plan contributions or other benefits like discounted or free health clubs and ongoing training opportunities- a $50,000 salary including time off and health benefits is already worth $62,500 if you add in the amount your employer pays for your family insurance plan and your time off. If you tried to put a dollar amount on the other benefits- you might find that your benefits are worth as much- if not more- what you receive as a salary.

How Much Are Your Benefits Worth? was created by and is property of American Consumer News.

Cavalcade of Risk – December 18th, 2007

ACN Staff — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 03:44:18 +0000

Welcome to the December 18^th, 2007 edition of the Cavalcade of Risk. The topic of risk often takes a backseat when talking about finance, but it’s extremely important to adjust whatever financial action you’re taking for risk. A bet on black in Vegas will yield a 100% rate of return on your money, but most of us never make that “investment” because there’s too much risk involved! Read some of these articles submitted by blogs from around the internet and consider whether or not you’re taking an acceptable amount of risk in your life.

Health Care

An Enigmatic Conundrum (How Insurance Companies Are Trying To Get You to Take On More Risk) @ InsureBlog

Changing the way we see disability @ Workers Comp Insider

Dangers of Getting Your Health Insurance on Your Own @ Consumer’s Health Insurance Blog

Fitting Health Care Into The Budget @ Insurance Shoppers

Medicare Part D and Switching Costs @ Healthcare Economist

Investing

10 Common Investing Mistakes Or Just Personal Choices? @ The Digerati Life

Ben Stein vs. Goldman Sachs: Market-Makers, Brokers, and Trusted Advisors @ Trust Matters

Common Mutual Fund Investing Mistakes @ Bullreturns.com

Our 7 Mutual Fund Investing Mistakes! @ Fire Finance

Risk Management – Pure Risk and Speculative Risk Explained @ Personal Financier