H
health care provider
A doctor, hospital, laboratory, nurse or anyone else who delivers medical or health-related care.
health insurance
A type of insurance that provides protection against the risk of financial loss resulting from the insured person's sickness, accidental injury or disability.
health insurance portability and accountability ac
Under this federal law (known as HIPAA), group health plans cannot deny coverage based soley on an individual's health status. This law also gives employees who change or lose their jobs better access to health coverage, guarantees renewability and availability to certain employees and limits exclusions for pre-existing conditions. For example, under this law, group health plans must credit any employee the amount of time that they spent on any health plan prior to the new plan, which is known as "prior credible coverage." A pre-existing condition will be covered without a waiting period when an employee joins a new group plan if the employee has been insured for the previous 12 months with credible health insurance, with no lapse in coverage of 63 days or more. This means that if an employee has been insured for 12 months or more, the employee will be able to go from one job to another and his or her pre-existing coverage will remain intact -- without additional waiting periods. However, if an employee has a pre-existing condition and was not covered previously for 12 months before joining a new plan, the longest the employee will have to wait for their pre-existing coverage to be covered is 12 months.
Health Savings Account
Health
Savings Account Combining a qualified High Deductible Health Plan (HDHP) to cover catastrophic illness and injury with a Health Savings Account (HSA) to cover routine expenses may be your answer to lower premiums for health insurance. Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) are becoming increasingly popular because of their flexibility and immediate tax savings. Who is eligible? - To be eligible to establish a health savings account an individual must
- Be covered under a high deductible health plan
- May not be covered under any health plan that is not a high deductible health plan
- Not be entitled to benefits under Medicare
- Not be claimed as a dependent on another person’s tax return
Who can contribute and how much is deductible? Contributions are 100% tax deductible up to the size of the HDHP deductible within certain limits. This means a tax-deductible contribution of individuals ranging between $1,000 and $2,600 and between $2,000 and $5,150 for families. HSA’s allow for catch up contributions for individuals age 55-64. Advantages - Contributions to the account are tax deductible
- Amounts in an HSA belong to the individual and are fully portable
- Amounts in an HSA earn tax-free interest
- Unused amounts in the account at year-end remain available for future years
- Distributions are not taxed if used for qualifying medical expenses
HSA funds not withdrawn accumulate tax-free interest until age 65. At age 65 you have the option to withdraw them for any purpose and pay ordinary income taxes.
HMO (health maintenance organization)
A health care financing and delivery system that provides comprehensive health care for subscribing members in a particular geographic area using managed care techniques. Most HMOs require that you only utilize physicians within their network, often going so far as to require you to choose a primary care physician who directs most courses of your treatment.
home health care
Skilled medical care and other health care services that you receive in your home for the treatment of an illness or injury. Some insurance plans don't provide this kind of coverage, or provide it only for a limited amount of time.
Home Zip Code
While some health insurance companies base the monthly premiums on the zip code of the business address, others base monthly premiums on the home zip code of each employee. In order to get the most accurate quote, you may want to add home zip codes of each employee.
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