beniebuzz blog

I used to think being a smart consumer was getting my Coach handbag on sale at the Nordstrom Rack or buying my favorite new shoes during a Friends & Family event. But, I never thought being a smart consumer also applied to how I spent my money on healthcare – that is, until I read Jim Skinner’s book Smart Money: The Simple Guide to Becoming an Educated , Empowered, Money-Saving Champion of the Healthcare You Deserve.   

Do you understand how your health insurance works? When I was 24 years old and started working my first job, I couldn’t understand it at all!  

That’s funny because I was working for a large insurance company and my degree was in Health Administration. But, I was raised and got my degree in Canada and you probably already know they have a very different system than the US. I’ve now been in the US health insurance industry for 21 years and I’m still learning. 

Have you heard about this “Fiscal Cliff” thing?!  It sounds scary!   

So, what is it?  In a nutshell, it's a term that describes the financial difficulties our country could face as a result of some pending legislative changes. Unless lawmakers decide to make a change by 1/1/13, a number of tax increases and spending cuts will go into effect and they are expected to weigh heavily on the economy.  

Wondering why 2pac is the image for this post?  Read on....

Are you experiencing annual enrollment for health insurance right about now?  Many are, so last week, we started this series on tips for saving on healthcare costs!

Click here to read the intro and the 3 tips from our first post in this series!  

Here’s 3 more tips….

4. Know the coverage and benefits of your plan

Americans are GREAT consumers…arguably the best in the world!  In 2011, we spent almost 18% of the gross domestic product on health care – more than any other nation in the world! Then why are we SO bad at understanding our health care spending?

OK, so some big stuff is going down with Obamacare that WILL affect you.  If you’re like me, you have a hard time caring about super complicated government bills that may or may not happen or affect you.  However, Joel Ray, CEO of a 100-employee specialty healthcare company, has this to say:  “Regardless of one's political beliefs, our country is about to undergo a generational change in the delivery of healthcare to the American people.“