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This great opinion piece is from PrescriptionforChange.org:

Thanksgiving meals, Christmas parties and trick-or-treating aren’t the only traditions Americans share each holiday season. Small businesses, families, and entrepreneurs also huddle around kitchen tables, carefully bracing themselves, as they attempt to absorb health insurance rate increases that have become an annual nightmare.

Pundits and opponents of fair practices have deceptively painted health reform’s new consumer protections as the reason for this year’s premium increases, effectively asking families to ignore the long history of astronomical rate hikes by insurers. But experts and even some insurers estimate that the impact on premiums of important new benefits like ending lifetime limits and extending dependent coverage to age 26 will be minimal – between 1 and 2 percent.

Click to read the rest of this article.

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• Obama Administration Pushing to Have Health Insurers Justify Large Rate Hikes (theloop21.com)
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• UPDATE 4-US health insurers face new rules over price hikes (reuters.com)
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Here is a great article from WalletPop on forthcoming changes to Flexible Spending Accounts.

Flexible Spending Accounts, which allow you to use pre-tax dollars to pay for dental and medical expenses that aren’t covered by insurance, have long been favored by budget conscious consumers. That’s because money that goes into these accounts escapes income, Social Security and Medicare taxes, reducing your overall costs for your eligible expenses by about 20%, according to estimates from consulting firm, Mercer Health and Benefits.

But these accounts, known for their extremely generous list of eligible expenses and utilized by one in three employees, are about to get a lot less flexible in 2011. With new restrictions, designed to raise additional tax revenue to offset the costs of the health care reform bill, going into effect on January 1, here’s what you need to do.

Read the rest of this article on WalletPop.

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• Rules for flexible spending accounts change Jan. 1 (usatoday.com)
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Here are a few things to remember after watching this interview:

During open enrollment season, you’d also be wise to ask about these corporate perks:

• gym membership
• commuting rebates
• employee discounts
• emergency funds
• tuition

Most health plans come in two categories – FSA offerings or HSA plans.

The FSA plan, or Flexible Spending Account, is a “use it or lose it” proposition. A Health Savings Account, or HSA, is not. However, both are tax advantaged. Can you change your mind? Unfortunately, no. You’re usually forced to stick with the same health plan until the next open enrollment season, unless you experience a change in your family circumstances, such as getting married or divorced or having a baby, naturally or via adoption.

Continue reading: 4 things you must know about open enrollment on Walletpop

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It will take multiple steps to help you eliminate your medical debt. But here are six strategies you can use to knock down those hospital bills and improve your credit rating.

Examine Everything

Start by going over all your medical bills with a fine-tooth comb. Question charges that seem inflated (like that $20 bottle of aspirin). Also, ask for explanations from your healthcare providers regarding invoices for services you don’t recognize or understand. Simply forcing them to account for everything may result is certain charges being waived or reduced.

Find Out About State Freebies

Lots of states offer their residents free mandatory coverage or health insurance with small co-pays and low deductibles. If any of your treatment should have been covered by a state program, see if state resources can fill the gap and pay what you’ve been charged.

Ask Directly for Discounts

Ask the hospitals, clinics and healthcare professionals that serviced you whether or not you qualify for any discounts, charity, or write-downs of your total bill outstanding. Don’t be ashamed to let the hospital(s) know about your entire financial predicament. They may be more lenient if they know that you’re not working, are not insured, have lots of other debts, are a single mom, etc.

Request a Payment Plan

If you can talk to a kindly, flexible billing representative/hospital administrator, or even better, the doctor(s) who treated you, ask if you can get on a payment plan. Try to stretch out the plan for as long as reasonable in order to give yourself time to pay off all that you owe. If they agree to discount $2,000 of your original $5,000 in bills, then you’ll have $3,000 remaining to pay off over time. If you can commit to pay that off in two years, that means you’ll have to pay $125 a month ($3,000 divided by 24 months).

Negotiate to Improve Your Credit Rating

Also, while you are negotiating, request upfront that the hospital agree to delete all negative references to your credit files. They may only do it once you’ve completed your repayment plan. But that’s better than letting the late payment or collection information sit on your credit reports for seven years. Get any agreements in writing.

Get a Medical Advocate

Don’t give up on negotiating down that medical debt, or to improve your credit standing. Sometimes you have to go to multiple people or write numerous letters. But it will be worth it in the end if you can rid yourself of thousands of dollars of medical bills. If your own efforts don’t get you anywhere, get help from a third party, such as Access Project (http://www.accessproject.org) or Medical Bill Advocates (http://www.billadvocates.com). For those with hefty hospital bills, The Access Project’s Medical Debt Resolution Program can guide you through the maze of negotiating with insurance companies, medical providers and public programs to resolve your medical debt.

Related articles

• How to Handle Overdue Hospital Bills (ybpguide.com)
• Can I get a medical collection removed from my credit report? (askamoneyexpert.com)

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