These new marketplaces should provide up to 30 million Americans with an easy-to-use way to shop for coverage by offering a menu of plans, presented in a Web-based standardized format. By creating a large pool of customers, the exchanges should be able to get better insurance at a lower cost than individuals or small businesses could get on their own.

There is more that we don’t know than we do know” as to how the exchanges will work, said Jon Kingsdale, executive director of the Commonwealth Health Insurance Connector Authority, the exchange created by health insurance reform in Massachusetts. “Implementation is 90 percent of the game.

Creating a national health insurance exchange — or a system of state or regional exchanges — “has incredible potential if it’s done right.

People have just not focused on the mechanics of the exchange enough.

Medicare is going broke. There are people in this country with serious illnesses who cannot afford health insurance. There are unethical people defrauding the system and providing care that is substandard.

Our health care system has some serious flaws. This President, as others before him, has challenged Congress to fix the problem. Unfortunately the media and members of Congress have made this a contest of winning or losing. Headlines and political rhetoric lead you to believe that the outcome of health care reform will be a victory or a loss for the President or for a particular political party. The reality is that health care reform will be a victory or failure for the American people. For our elected officials to view it in any other manner is negligent and a violation of the trust we gave them when electing them to office.

Passing a flawed bill is not a victory. Nor is it victory to stubbornly oppose any form of reform to a system that needs improvement. We deserve better from those we have elected to represent us.

Any “solution” to the health care challenge must be realistic in terms of cost. We cannot create another government program that will ultimately be in the same financial crisis that Social Security and Medicare currently face. While the government has the ability to print money, it cannot fabricate value. At some point the deficits and artificial cash pumped into the system will collapse, much as the mortgage failures brought about the crisis for many financial institutions in the past year. If government does not start to exercise fiscal prudency, this country will face a financial crisis that no bail-out can save.

The current house reform bill will require insurance companies to accept all patients regardless of preexisting conditions and will prohibit them from placing caps on benefits. The insurance companies cannot charge higher premiums for these individuals than they do for others in the plan.

True health care reform must address health and the issues that impact health. Poor diet, smoking, obesity, drug use, lack of exercise and poor prenatal care are big components of the cost of health care in the United States. Improving quality and reducing cost are not done by making sure everyone has health insurance. They are accomplished by improving the overall health of our population. This issue is not being addressed.

Many Medicare and Medi-Cal/Medicaid patients are finding it difficult to get a primary care doctor or get an appointment with certain specialists. This is because physicians cannot afford to see too many of these patients without risking financial ruin.

Patients who are insured through a commercial health insurance subsidize the federal programs by paying more than their fair share. Physicians therefore give priority to insured patients and commercial insurance is condemned for having high premiums.

Despite this fact, the House bill does not contain an outline to fix this problem. A separate bill does away with the existing payment formula that has physicians facing a 21% cut in 2010, but a long term solution is not included in either bill. Political promises seem to buy votes, but they seldom produce results.

Under such circumstances, how many bright young people will choose medicine as a career? A surgical specialist is in school and training until they are between 32-35 years old. Most will have spent well over $200,000 in tuition and fees. They will have put off establishing a home for themselves and their families.

The Pelosi bill is a bad bill. It does not go far enough in some areas and goes too far in others. It does not address the root causes of our health care challenge nor does it strengthen our health care system. It changes our health care system, but there is little hope that it is the change we need.

Recently, Hibernian Aviva increased its premia by 12% and VHI will,also up its rates in the new year.

Quinn Health care said its newly-announced increase was a result of the Government’s health insurance levy which was introduced aimed at making health insurance affordable for older people by decreasing the risk differentials for health insurers between old and young customers.

This followed the risk equalization scheme being annulled by the courts last year.

With private bed charges in public hospitals likely to be increased substantially in the December 9 Budget, further major increases in health insurance costs can be expected later in 2009.

Health insurance, along with other healthcare charges, are one of thefew areas of the economy to have increased in cost over the past year, according to the Consumer Price Index.

If it carries out that threat the government could call an early election on the issue.

Under the government’s plan the 30 per cent rebate will be means-tested and reduced for individuals earning more than $75,000 a year and couples earning more than $150,000 a year.

In a double whammy, the wealthy will also be hit with a higher Medicare levy surcharge if they opt out of private cover.

The government says the measures – due to start in July next year – will save $1.9 billion over four years.

“This bill is being reintroduced to the House of Representatives to make the private health insurance rebate fairer,” Ms Roxon told parliament on Thursday.

“This measure will make private health fairer and more balanced, more sustainable into the long term, and, by maintaining a carefully designed system of carrots and sticks, have a negligible affect on both premiums and the public hospital system.”

Ms Roxon said increasing the tax penalty for people who opt out of health cover will ensure 99.7 per cent of insured people will remain in a fund.

If the reform is to become a double-dissolution trigger the reintroduced legislation can’t pass the lower house until December 9 – three months after it was originally defeated in the Senate.

Parliament is set to rise for the summer break on November 26, but Labor has hinted previously it could move to recall parliament in December to debate the legislation.

The coalition has promised to again vote against the draft laws because Labor promised before the last election not to change the rebate.

That means the government needs the support of all seven crossbench senators to see the reforms pass the upper house.

Family First senator Steve Fielding has given no indication he’ll change his mind, while the Greens insisted in September the bills be split so they could support reducing the rebate but vote against lifting the surcharge.

Independent senator Nick Xenophon wants to wait for a report from the Productivity Commission – due in early December – before declaring his hand.

So there’s a good chance an experienced agent can help you quickly because they are likely to have helped someone else with a similar situation. For example, if you are looking for a cheap family health insurance rate and you have one child entering elementary school and a newborn on the way, there’s a good chance you can find an agent who already knows which plans and options fit your situation best.

The moral of the story here is that you don’t need to drive yourself crazy finding a cheap health insurance plan on your own. There are thousands of health insurance agents across the country who focus on specific geographic areas so they can serve customers like you better.

How do you find one of these agents? Well, through the internet of course. A simple search in your favorite search engine for “health insurance agents”, “health insurance quotes” or even just “health insurance” will easily turn up a number of websites that connect customers with agents. Most of these sites have their own quote search engines that ask you for a zip code or state and then return a list of agents based on your location. It’s that easy. Oh, I almost forgot, and it’s free too.

What Goes Into a Family Health Insurance Rate?

Now that you know how to find health insurance agents in your area, you need to understand a little bit about how to evaluate health insurance rates and quotes. We’re just talking about some basics here, enough to let you feel confident when talking health insurance with an agent.

The first item that catches a customer’s attention about a family health insurance rate, or any type of health insurance rate, is the monthly premium amount. After all, this is the amount of money that needs to be paid on a monthly basis in order to keep the insurance plan in effect. While this is a very important factor in determining the total cost of a plan, it is not the only one.

In addition to the monthly premium, every plan has a deductible. This number reflects the amount of money you need to pay out of your own pocket before the health insurance company starts paying any of your health care costs. For example, if you have a plan with a $2,000 deductible, and you get hospitalized with a $6,000 bill, you must pay $2,000 and the insurance company pays the rest. So do not brush aside the significance of the deductible amount thinking it won’t come into play. Be realistic about your health and lifestyle so you end up with a plan that gives you proper coverage. An experienced health insurance agent can advise you on how much protection you need given your health and income levels.

Another thing to take into consideration is any language in a cheap health insurance plan that specifies medical conditions and procedures that are not covered. This can be easy to overlook since it doesn’t have a number tied to it. But make sure you ask your agent about this issue when evaluating your options. At the end of the day, you are buying health insurance in order to cover yourself and loved ones in case something happens. So don’t overlook the details on what is covered (and what is not) by each health insurance plan you consider.