Wednesday, September 23, 2020

5 Basic Insurance Mistakes to Avoid

5 Basic Insurance Mistakes to Avoid

 
 
Having basic insurance coverage is essential. If you don't apply for insurance, know that it will be a big mistake. Therefore, you may want to have enough coverage to meet your needs. Also, it's important that you realize the importance of insurance. Given below are a few common mistakes that you may want to avoid when it comes to buying insurance.

Ignoring the Importance of Basic Insurance

You must have at least basic insurance. For instance, it can protect you in case of car theft and accidents. In addition, basic health insurance can help you save on your medical bills. If you can't go for a comprehensive policy, make sure you get a catastrophic or deductible plan.

According to the Affordable Care Act, you must have health insurance. Otherwise, you may have to face fines at the time of filing your taxes. The health plan you opt for should meet your minimum requirements. A plan designed for disability protection, for instance, can protect you if you fall seriously sick or get injured.

Opting for an Expensive Plan

Another common mistake is to purchase a plan that is more expensive. It can be hard to estimate how much you should spend on a plan, especially when it comes to liability insurance. Therefore, we suggest that you have a discussion with an agent about your assets. At young age, you won't have to pay for an expensive plan as you won't have a lot of assets to protect.

Opting for a Cheap Plan

Under insuring yourself is another common mistake. Ideally, your basic plan should be able to cover your expenses. In other words, in case of an accident, your plan should be able to pay for all the medical expenses.

For a health plan, the same is true. If you are in the United States, one million dollar can be enough. However, if you have a major illness like cancer, your medical expenses will be much higher.

Opting for the Wrong Insurance

Getting the wrong type of insurance policy is another common mistake. It's not a good idea to opt for policies that won't be of any use to you. For instance, if you are under the age of 30, you don't have to get different types of policies.

Keep in mind that you don't have to go for all types of policies. If you know what you are going to get, you won't have to get surprised at the time of filing a claim.

Not Considering Different Policies

Make sure you shop around before deciding on a policy. It's better to do this every now and then. This will help you save money by opting for a different policy. In addition, you may consider policies that offer discounts based on your location or profession. Shopping around won't take much time but save you a lot of money. Plus, it will help you avoid common mistakes.

In short, these are some common mistakes that you may want to avoid when it comes to buying the right type of insurance policy. It's much better to consult a health insurance agent to make an informed decision.

If you are looking for a California health insurance agent, we suggest that you check out Health Insurance Agent.

Thursday, September 17, 2020

Importance of Medical Coding for Insurance

With health and diseases becoming a major issue these days around the world, it has become A LOT more important to have more and more coders involved in the medical field for insurance. But what is medical coding? A medical coder, clinical coding officer, or diagnostic coder are professionals involved in the health care sector who analyze clinical documents and using proper classification systems, assign standard codes to them. They provide medical coding guidelines and suggestions to help regulate the ways doctors, nurses, and other medical staff provide care for their patients. There are three main types of medical coding:

1) ICD (International Classification of Diseases): These are codes used for describing the cause of illness, injury, or death.

2) CPT (Current Procedural Terminology): These deal with anesthesia, surgery, pathology, radiology, measurement procedures, and new technological changes in the medical field.

3) HCPCS Healthcare Common Procedure Coding System): These include outpatient hospital care, medical aid, and Medicare.

Let us look at some points as to why coding is necessary for the medical field.

DATA SYSTEMS
When the coding is paired with the data systems of the hospitals, a powerful tool is made. By doing so, a large number of data from various hospitals, clinics, and other sources are stored, accessed, and used from one large online data system. This implementation helps in the transfer of any patient's data from any hospital to another for any medical purpose. This information helps doctors to be more connected and make wiser decisions, especially in cases involving the life and death situation of the patient.

PATIENT CARE

Coding is very much required for reimbursements, which include submitting medical claims with insurance companies and bills between insurers and patients. The transfer of information for bill related purposes requires medical records, patient's medical needs, lab results, pathology records (if any), and any other related documents. Appropriate payment is possible only when the required diagnostic codes are put in place, which also means to verify in case the medical claim is denied by the insurance company.

REGULATIONS

Medical billing and coding fall under the rules and guidelines of many countries and states. Coders in this field are also responsible for protecting the privacy of the patients and their families. They are supposed to take safeguards to preserve the confidential details concerning the patient and his/her medical background in a safe place. Electronic medical records fall under the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10) codes issued by the World Health Organization (WHO).

Medical coding analysts are in the front line in healthcare data analytics. They work in many types of healthcare setups and not necessarily in hospitals and clinics. Their valuable service is very functional for research and development in the medical field.


Medical coders are in high demand, with an average growth rate of 20% over 10 years. The training imparted to become a medical coder can be offline and online. Many institutes provide Online Medical Coding Training globally that are reasonably priced and provide proper teaching. Medical training may seem hard, but with many jobs being created in this field, this is the first option chosen by many coders who wish to work in the medical field. Of course, with the ongoing pandemic, it is best to have Medical coding training online.

Tuesday, September 15, 2020

What Is the Difference Between an Interest Rate and the Annual Percentage Rate (APR)?

I'm sure that everyone has in fact heard of the term mortgage especially in the US since it is a common means among people who want some capital when they need to buy a house or a property. When you talk of mortgage costs there are two things to deem one is the interest rate and the other being the Annual percentage rate also well-known as the APR. Even though they both describe the same they are not the same that is why many borrowers get confused.

Then what exactly is the difference? 


1. Then let us define the interest rate as the cost of borrowing the principal loan amount. It may be fixed or variable depending on the loan. This is often articulated as a percentage.

2. However, Annual percentage rate is the bigger figure which comprises the other costs like broker fees, discounts, and closing fees, etc which is also a percentage.

3. The interest is established by existing rates and the borrower's credit score. For example, the upper your credits score the lesser your interest rate will be. Your monthly sum is proportional to the interest charge and principal balance, not considering the Annual percentage rate.

4. An interest on a personal loan is diverse because it is only a proportion of the loan you're charged for having a loan.

5. The Annual percentage rate, on the other hand, is decided by the lender, since it's constituted of lender fees and other costs that differ from lender to lender.

Which is important Annual percentage rate?

Both interest and APR inform you of significant information about a loan. But comparing of a loan ts very useful:

• You can compare fruits to fruits. All lenders must pursue similar rules when computing Annual percentage rate (with a duo of differences we'll touch on in a moment). You have an enhanced sagacity of the accurate cost of a loan with APR and you can compare it to other loans.

• You recognize how much a loan will cost at a glimpse. Without an affirmed APR, it's a matter of toiling through individual fees and adding up them to the interest rate. That's lengthy.

• You can observe how a great deal you'll pay in fees. Contrast the APR to the interest rate. The nearer the two numbers, the smaller the amount fees are built-in.

Both the interest rate and APR inform you how much you'll pay for a loan. But the APR let know you a lot more, so it's usually more useful. Though, you'll want to compare them both.

The Takeaway
This is a precious tool when comparing personal loans. Comprehending its correlation to the interest rate can help you decide intelligently when you shop for the loan that best meets your wants and budget.