Health Care Insurance

CPS Health Insurance Definitions

The Census Bureau broadly classifies health insurance coverage as either Private (non-government) coverage or Government-sponsored coverage.

Private Health Insurance
Private health insurance is coverage by a health plan provided through an employer or union or purchased by an individual from a private health insurance company.

Employment-based plans
Employment-based health insurance is coverage offered through one’s own employment or a relative’s. It may be offered by an employer or by a union.

Direct-purchase plans
Direct-purchase health insurance is coverage though a plan purchased by an individual from a private company.

Government Health Insurance
Government health insurance includes plans funded by governments as the federal, state, or local level. The major categories of government health insurance are medicare, medicaid, the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), military health care, state plans, and the Indian Health Service.

Medicare
Medicare is the Federal program which helps pay health care costs for people 65 and older and for certain people under 65 with long-term disabilities.


Medicaid
Medicaid is a program administered at the state level, which provides medical assistance to the needy. Families with dependent children, the aged, blind, and disabled who are in financial need are eligible for Medicaid. It may be known by different names in different states.

SCHIP
SCHIP, the State Children’s Health Insurance Program, is a program administered at the state level, providing health care to low-income children whose parents do not qualify for Medicaid. SCHIP may be known by different names in different states

Military health care
Military health care includes TRICARE/CHAMPUS (Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Uniformed Services) and CHAMPVA (Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Department of Veterans Affairs), as well as care provided by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).

TRICARE/CHAMPUS
TRICARE or CHAMPUS is a military health care program for active duty and retired members of the uniformed services, their families, and survivors.

CHAMPVA
CHAMPVA is a medical program through which the Department of Veterans Affairs helps pay the cost of medical services for eligible veterans, veteran‘s dependents, and survivors of veterans.

VA
The Department of Veterans Affairs provides medical assistance to eligible veterans of the Armed Forces.

State-specific plan
Some states have their own health insurance programs for low-income uninsured individuals. These health plans may be known by different names in different states.

Indian Health Service*
Indian Health Service (IHS) is a health care program through which the Department of Health and Human Services provides medical assistance to eligible American Indians at IHS facilities. In addition, the IHS helps pay the cost of selected health care services provided at non-IHS facilities.

*After consulting with health insurance experts, the Census Bureau modified the definition of the population without health insurance in the Supplement to the March 1998 Current Population Survey, which collected data about coverage in 1997. Previously, people with no coverage other than access to the Indian Health Service were counted as part of the insured population. Subsequently, the Census Bureau has counted these people as uninsured. The effect of this change on the overall estimates of health insurance coverage was negligible.

Source: http://www.census.gov/

In 2002 historic legislation was enacted to extend disability compensation to cover individuals who take time off work to care for a seriously ill child, spouse, parent, or domestic partner, or to bond with a new born child. Senate Bill 1661 established the Paid Family Leave insurance program, also known as Family Temporary Disability Insurance program, to be administered by the State Disability Insurance (SDI) program. An estimated 13 million California workers who are covered by the SDI program have also been covered for Paid Family Leave insurance benefits as of July 1, 2004.

Paid Family Leave is unemployment compensation disability insurance paid to workers who suffer a loss of wages when they take time off work to care for a seriously ill family member or bond with a new child. Workers can receive up to six (6) weeks of benefits that could be paid over a 12-month period.

Paid Family Leave Insurance is a component of the California State Disability Insurance (SDI) program. The Disability Insurance benefit portion compensates workers who suffer a wage loss when they can’t work because of their own illness or injury. The Paid Family Leave benefit compensates workers who suffer a wage loss due to the need to provide care for a seriously ill family member or to bond with a new minor child.

The Paid Family Leave insurance program is fully funded by employees’ who contribute to the SDI program. Beginning January 1 2004 employers were required to deduct the Paid Family Leave contributions from the wages of employees’ who contribute to the SDI program.

There are many things that renters do not have to think about that are essentials for homeowners.

One thing that most don’t have to deal with is fire, flood, and other types of insurance. Renters don’t have to worry about it because this is something the owner of the home already has. That doesn’t mean that renters are off the hook for all types of insurance however as there is one type that they do need to have.

Contents insurance, otherwise known as renters insurance, protects what the landlord’s insurance policy cannot. The contents insurance renters need to get is something that covers what they own and have brought into the home. This means that the renters things are protected if the house were to burn down or were to become unstable or destroyed by some other method.

Contents insurance will give back money when the contents of the home are lost in most cases (excluding fraud), and that might even include theft. However, you won’t know that until you sign up so talk about the specifics when you are looking for coverage. When you find someone you want to buy contents insurance from, you have to take some time to figure out the real value of all of the things in your home.

This could take you a while, so you should get started as soon as possible. You should ask your insurance company if they need inventory of everything, and if you should have pictures. Some may just send someone to your home to look things over and then give you a value for your insurance.

If you have valuable jewelry and other higher priced items it helps if you have receipts to prove their worth. Always remember to update your contents insurance when you have a new purchase. You don’t have to do it for small things. When you invest in something like an expensive television or perhaps if a new piece of jewelry you will want to add that to your list of items with your insurance company.

You may want to call around and find out what rates you can get for your contents insurance so that you know you are getting the best coverage at the best price. You may even find that your current car or other insurance company may have this type of coverage and you can just add it to your existing policy.