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Introduction:

In this paper I will discuss the phenomenon of using native English teachers in the Middle East region, precisely in United Arab Emirates in the context of EFL in the public primary schools. In this discussion I will examine the reasons beyond such a phenomenon. I will also examine the attitude of native and non-native speaker teachers who teach English language along with students’ parents’ attitudes. Moreover, I will link “communicative imperialism” (Phillipson, 2006) and the role of the media with the context of EFL in the Middle East region. Due to the natural of my paper, a “self reflective” (Pennycook, 2001: p.1) and previous experiences of other countries are expected to be present.

ELT in United Arab Emirates has witnessed an extraordinary revolution in the last 6 years. My interest of this issue emerged simultaneity with the appearance of a new type of schools which are gradually replacing the ordinary public schools in UAE. This type is called (Al-Ghad schools) which literally means “tomorrow schools” in Arabic. It clearly indicates the main purpose of these schools is to produce more sophisticated, moderated and competitive students. The vision of ministry of Education and Youth in UAE as what they declared is “to have a new generation who is more capable of English language and its vocabulary and grammar skills”, in other words “we need a generation who speaks English as it is his or her first language”, thus to achieve this goal teachers who “have a better command of fluent, idiomatically correct language forms, are more knowledgeable about the cultural connotations of the language” (Braine, 1999: p.xiv) are needed. In order to make this vision alive, a huge number of native English teachers had been brought from areas such as “North America, Britain, new Zealand and Australia which claim ownership over English”( Canagarajah, 1999: p.79). Furthermore, to support this vision, some authorized sources in the government argue that this new methodology of teaching is the best in teaching English which enables the students to acquire the language very easy and smoothly. Schiitz (2007) cites Krashen’s (1987) view that acquisition any language requires meaningful interaction in the target language (natural communication) thus, language acquisition does not require extensive use of conscious grammatical rules because learners grow up learning the language as it is something very natural in their life without an effort, especially at the beginning levels of their life. Moreover, Boyle (1997) illustrates that native speaker teachers have a range of advantages over the non-native speaker teachers because (a) English learned from birth and developed through his/her life as primary language which been used in his/her life (b) the intricacies of the grammar of the language are learned instinctively and can be employed with speed and certainty (c) native speaker of English engages with other native speakers of English as something natural in his/her social context, so he/she uses the language all the time as the dominant language, thus it is better to use native speaker teachers of English to teach their first language. Additionally, McNeill (1994) in his study about the characteristics of native and non-native speaker teachers of English argues that native speaker teachers have the advantage when it comes to learners’ vocabulary needs. It is sensible to point here; the government is replacing non-native speaker teachers with native speaker teachers of English gradually in order to provide their students with the opportunity to hold conversations with teachers in English, and only in English.

On the other hand, Al-segair (2007) who works as a teacher in a prestigious university in the Middle East illustrates that in his investigation about native speaker teachers in the Middle East, “I found some of them used to work as dog-trainers back in Chicago” (paragraph, 2). He also pointed out that some teachers were “a bunch of former company employees and some had worked in western embassies” (paragraph, 2) who did not work as teachers before. Al-segair thus explains that not because you are a native speaker of a language qualifies you to teach it! Teaching a language requires “skills, competence, training and knowledge” (paragraph, 3). Going further in this issue, Al-Osaimi (2007) illustrates that some schools do not bother to recruit qualified English teachers, however, parents usually more impressed by where did teachers come from and the fact that their accent sounds more ‘American or British’ considered to be enough to convince them that they are the most suitable teachers to teach their children, regardless what they have of qualifications or experiences. Such criteria forced me to wonder why such thinking is dominant in the region.

America and its Politics play a major part in all of this. The American tenet that “the current educational systems in place in the Muslim world were partly responsible for motivating the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the pentagon. In June 2002” (Karmani, 2005:p.262), thus in order to change their attitude towards the western and the American culture, a new concept should be replaced with what is described as a “combination of intolerance, ignorance, anti-Semitic, anti-American, and anti-Western views” (Karmani, 2005: p.262) by using native speaker teachers as means to apply this project.  By importing native speaker teachers of English from what Kachru calls “inner circle countries” (Kachru & Nelson, 1996: p. 78) with westerns’ beliefs and values, a new Americanized generation would be the total outcome. In simple words, educational or mind colonialism and “linguistics imperialism” (Phillipson, 2006: p.346) are the main goals in such invasion of native speaker teachers at the Middle East region.

Searching for its alleged security:

Handley (2004) mentions that in the late 1700s, America was surrounded by great European superpowers, thus America was “economically and militarily disadvantaged” (Hadley, 2004). Therefore, to build a strong and superpower nation, America must expand its borders by negotiation or war. The American citizens had been convinced that the world and America’s national security always in danger, so in order to protect the world and America, any country that threats us should be attacked. Furthermore, “lack of expansion implies the possibility of defeat” thus, “American insecurity was an important factor in the invasions of Hawaii, Puerto Rico and the Philippines” (Hadley, 2004) in the past. Other form of such American fears is the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) which was a proposal by the American president Roland Reagan in March 23, 1983. The main goal of this proposal as what Wikipedia illustrates is “to use ground and space-based systems to protect the United States from attack by strategic nuclear ballistic missiles”. This proposal carried the popular name “Star Wars” in 1977 after movie by George Lucas. According to Handley, the Star Wars program is an expansion of America’s continued need searching for its national safety “by now expanding its borders into outer space” (Handley, 2004 cited Mauk and Oakland, 154), moreover, the recent invasions on Iraq and Afghanistan interpreted by a large number of American citizens is they had been convinced that America’s national security was threatened. Thus, in order to assure that no one threats America’s security in the future, a new ways of domination and controlling should take place in areas such as Eastern Asia, Africa and the Middle East not only military, but also as media and academic occupation.

The role of Media in the Middle East:

No one can deny the strong role played by Media in any place in the world. America tries to impose its policies and its ideologies in the Middle East whether by using force or not. In order to dominate the region, the American beliefs should be promoted in the area. Phillipson (2006) argues that the development of communications networks has a basic relationship to the emergence of the new world order. He illustrates that “communication organizes the movement by multiplying and structuring interconnections through networks” (p. 352). Thus, in order to dominate a particular country and its culture, you must control its media and what is being showed to the people inside their homes.  A controversially television network channels like MBC group (Middle East Broadcasting Center) and Alhurra (means the ‘free one’ in Arabic) had emerged in the Middle East and dedicate the lion’s share in Middle Easterners’ minds and homes. Such channels can be seen by some people as mediums to spread the American’s plans and principles in the region using another means beside tanks and rockets. Alhurra is a commercial-free Arabic language satellite television network for the Middle East operated and funded by the United States of America. This channel is financed by the American people using their taxes through the Broadcasting Board of Governors and the U.S. Congress. Many Arab political critics argue that this channel lunched to change the views of Arabs and Muslims around the world towards the west and America by showing football games, explaining the acetic dimensions of baseball and airing documentaries about the ‘fence’ in Palestine, along with doses of fashion. Alhurra in its official web site claims that:

“We are devoted primarily to news and information. In addition to reporting on regional and international events, the channel broadcasts discussion programs, current affairs magazines and features on a variety of subjects including health and personal fitness, entertainment, sports, fashion, and science and technology” (Alhurra official web site).

Give me a break! In order to facilitate TESOLers’ jobs who came from inner circle countries, an anesthetization of Middle Easterners’ hearts and minds must be done so people can accept these teachers with a positive attitude and a wide smile on their faces. People in the Middle East must be convinced that they are not proficient enough to teach English, thus teachers their first language is English must take over and teach English for your child’s own benefit. According to Phillipson (2006) media is not only organize production on a new scale and force a new structure sufficient to global space, but also make its justification inherent power, as it “produces, organizes, as it organizes, it speaks and expresses it self as authority” (p. 352). Why I would pay my good money to fund an Arabic channel such as Alhurra when I cannot earn money from it. Alhurra in its web site mentions that “Alhurra is operated by non-profit corporation, The Middle East Broadcasting Networks, Inc. (MBN)” (Alhurra official web site). The Arabic satellite dish contains more than 300 free entertainment channels which can be accessed by Arabs from any place in the Middle East with more than 6 news channels such as Al-jazeera, CNN and BBC. Therefore, the purpose of such channels is that the American government can trade its citizen’s money with its future security by dominating and directing Arab youths’ minds and beliefs toward its own interest, by providing ‘a purely American Arabic speaker’ channel. The other case is MBC group channels which “started in London as the first satellite, free-to-air multi-channel media group of its kind in the Arab world” (MBC official web site). Al-Arabiya (means the ‘Arabian channel’ in Arabic) which is one channel from the MBC 6 free channels specialized with news and press. The reason behind the emergence of such channel has been declared by the people work there is to have a democratic channel which fights Aljazeera’s thoughts (an Arabic news channel) and its anti-democratic trends. Since Al-jazeera has been described by many Westerner politicians as anti-American bias, thus we need a channel against any anti-American thoughts in the Middle East region. According to Ryan (2005) Donald Rumsfeld has accused the station of persuading people that the US is an occupying force in Iraq, which he describes as a lie! On the contrary, the expansion into Iraq was to “brought freedom, economic growth, education and democracy to people who have suffered under years of oppression and mismanagement” (Hadley, 2004 quoted Assistance for Iraq). As a result, America is trying to Americanize the Arabic society the same way as she Americanized the Japanese society after the World War ll. Therefore, the road will be paved for native English teachers when they come to teach the ‘Western values’.

The world of TESOL and the native speaker teacher of English:

To impose the American ideologies in the Middle East, America promoted very well the teaching job for the native speaker teachers of English by promising them with “ good salaries and an exotic overseas adventure” (Hadley, 2004). According to Hadley many scholars such as Troike and Crystal have linked the expansion of TESOL to the expansion of former British and present American empire. Furthermore, native English teachers serve as “part of the educational aid packages exported to countries throughout South America, South East Asia, Africa and the Middle East” (Hadley, 2004) who work as colonial administrators. Handley in his paper cited Edge’s view that EFL teachers have become an academic army that satisfies intellectual conflict and occupies the linguistic dominions of an Anglophonic empire:

“…it is now possible to see us, EFL teachers, as a second wave of imperial troopers. Before the armoured divisions have withdrawn from the city limits, while the solders are still patrolling the streets, English teachers will be facilitating the policies that the tanks were sent to impose. And whether, and to whomsoever, I teach EFL, I am part of that overarching system” (Hadley, 2004 quoted from Edge, 10)

 Karmani (2005) argues that an extraordinary pressure has been put on Muslim governments to reform their educational curricula.  A very interesting article by Glasser (2003) who works for the Washington Post illustrates that many Arabic Gulf countries reshape their schools and put English over Islam, so in order to make way for more hours of English, classes in Islamic studies and Arabic are being reduced. A new stuff of native English speaker teachers has been brought into the schools of United Arab Emirates to teach the students from early ages. What is interesting is that the native speaker teachers are brought from inner countries as experts who do not need any preparing or training. They are who design the textbooks, monitoring the non-native speaker teachers and deciding who should stay and who should not stay in the school. However, American policies had succeeded in this country. Almost every non-native speaker teacher convinced that the native speaker teachers are better than non-native speaker teachers in English and this system is the best to teach the students this language even if they do not have the required qualifications, because English is their first language. This persuasion created negative outcomes with less positive results. In such schools a world full of racial discrimination in job opportunity, payment and respect has emerged. Non-native speaker teacher is no longer trusted by parents and his or her students. The native speaker teacher’s salary must be double than the non-native speaker teacher as one condition to import these teachers. Moreover, they must be provided with luxury accommodations, free transportations and first class annual flight tickets to their mother land. Of course, these conditions had been set by the American government to ensure that their citizens are treated well. Such conditions are imposed against governments’ wish in the Middle East region. What is ironic is that even if you have an American passport or you are a citizen from inner countries and you were not white or you were originally from Arabic country, you may not have these facilities! In some cases your contract might be cancelled even after you have signed the contract if your original identity has been discovered.

Conclusion:

In order to achieve the maximum domination on the Middle East and to make sure that no anti-American bases are exist in the region. Moreover, to insure that what happened in September 11, 2001 is not going to happen again, an American political equation must be applied, first, using the tank to impose the power. Second, programming youth’s minds and their views on what America ‘believes in’ is right. Third, teach the child what is against America is against you in the classrooms. It is not a coincidence that the emergence of (Al-Ghad) schools was after only one year from the dramatic events of September 11, 2001. It is not a coincidence that the reform of the educational curricula implemented after September 11, 2001. It is not also a coincidence that, channels like Alhurra and Al-Arabiya had been lunched after what happened in September 11 in 2001 which they are now based in Dubai, in United Arab Emirates. However, no one can disagree that Middle East countries need skilled and experienced workers and teachers from developed countries such as America, and Britain, but a direct supervising to those employees must be done by Middle Eastern countries that brought those experts and pay their salaries from their money for a preset goal. According to Fields (2005) who is a native speaker teacher of English works in Abu-Dhabi, UAE, teachers should be hired based on their qualifications to work in an atmosphere of fairness and respect, free from fear of discriminatory treatment or arbitrary dismissal because of their ethnicity, whether they were native or non-native speaker teachers of English.

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Reference:

Alhurra, 2005, ‘About us’. Available from: http://www.alhurra.com/sub.aspx?id=266 [Accessed 12 Jun 2008]

Al-Osaimi, N., 2007. English Teachers Not Always Qualified [online]. Arab News. Available from:http://www.arabnews.com/?page=1§ion=0&article=104142&d=30&m=11&y=2007. [Accessed 17 May 2008]

Al-Segair, K., 2007. Only Native Speakers as English Teachers! [online]. Arab News. Available from:

http://www.arabnews.com/?page=13§ion=0&article=101526&d=22&m=9&y=2007. [Accessed 17 May 2008]

Boyle, J., 1997. ‘Native-speaker teachers of English in Hong Kong’. Language and Education vol. 11, No.3

Braine, G., 1999, Introduction, in G. Braine (Ed), Non-Native Educators in

English Language Teaching, Mahwah, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum,

pp.xiii-xx

Canagarajah, A. S., 1999, Interrogating the “Native Speaker” Fallacy:

Non-Linguistic Roots, Non-Pedagogical Results, in G. Braine (Ed), Non-Native

Educators in English Language Teaching, Mahwah, New Jersey: Lawrence

Erlbaum, pp.77-92

Fields, M., 2005. If students can learn who is the better teacher, why can’t employers? [online]. Guardian Weekly. Available from:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/If students can learn who is the better teacher, why can’t employers  TEFL  EducationGuardian_co_uk.mht. [Accessed 16 May 2008]

Glasser, B., 2003. Qatar reshapes its schools, putting English over Islam [online]. Washington Post Foreign Services. Available from:

http://www.english.education.gov.qa/files/886_WPOST.pdf. [Accessed 16 May 2008]

Hadley, G., 2004, ‘ELT and the New World Order: Nation Building or New Reconstruction?’, in TESOL Islamia, Niigata University of International and Information Studies. Available from: http:/tesolislamia.org/articles.html [Aaccessed 11 Jun 2008]

Kachru, B., & Nelson, C., 1996, ‘World Englishes’, in S McKay & N

Hornberger (eds), Sociolinguistics and Language Teaching, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp. 71-102

Karmani, S., 2005, English, ‘Terror’, and Islam. Applied linguistics 26(2) 262-267

MBC group, 2008, ‘About MBC group’. Available from: http://www.mbc.net/about-mbc-en/ [Accessed 12 Jun 2008]

McNeill, A., 1994. ‘Some characteristics of Native and non-Native speaker teachers of English’. International language in Education conference.

Pennycook, A., 2001, Critical Applied Linguistics: A Critical Introduction,

Mahwah, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum

Phillipson, R., 2006, Language Policy and Linguistic Imperialism, in T. Ricento (Ed.), An Introduction to Language Policy: Theory and Method, Oxford: Blackwell, pp.246-361

Ryan, P., 2005, ‘Middle East ‘Media War’, Middle East window. Available from: http://middleeastwindow.com/node/975 [Accessed 12 Jun 2008]

Schiitz. R., 2007. ‘Stephen Krashen’s Theory of Second Language Acquisition’. Available from:

http://www.sk.com.br/sk-krash.html. [Accessed 19 May 2008]

 

When we all start out in the Insurance Industry, we are excited, eyes open wide, eager to pick the brains of every person we come in contact with. We are armed with just enough information about every type of protective policy and investment to be dangerous.

Our first real meeting with our Sales Manager is a brainstorming session to figure out who to network, who to call, basically how to get you in front of as many people as possible, so that you may put all your new found knowledge to the test and hopefully stumble across someone who knows less than you and you make a sale.

You are typically encouraged to buy a mortgage list and mass mail, to join the Chamber of Commerce and attend their networking luncheons and after-hour events, to talk to members of your Church, or even join one if you are not currently a member, and solicit every person in your family and all of their friends.

Sound familiar?

What the more experienced and successful Insurance Agents and Financial Planners know; is that in order to be successful, you need to narrow your focus. Knowing a little bit about everything can actually do more harm to your success and your client, then knowing a lot about one or two specific products or services. Why? Because of the many nuances of the products and services out today are more detailed and comprehensive than a quick glance will educate us on.

Some people stumble into their niche, meaning they never even knew that type of service was offered and for some reason found a knack for discussing its features and benefits. Some people base their niche on their age and experience. For example, it may be very difficult for a 20 year-old, fresh out of college to go into estate planning or retirement planning with the expectation that these older and wealthier people will trust their money and security to someone with so little life experience.

Why does having a niche make you successful? It gives you a focus. You spend your time searching for and discussing the benefits of your primary service all day long. You know the details of it, and you are able to successfully show a potential client how it would work and benefit them versus calling this person for mortgage insurance and that person for college planning, and this business owner over here for a group health insurance plan.

Another reason of how having a niche can help you become more successful is that your peers will perceive you as an expert. By plat forming yourself as the Disability Specialist in your office, other will come to you with split commission offers to help them secure the disability policy sale. For many, 50% of something is a LOT better than 100% of nothing. And good Sales Managers will support this type of work camaraderie.

Even the general public is more attracted to people they perceive to be experts in the services they desire, versus someone who stumbles through and attempts to answer all their questions with vague answers and “I’ll get back to you on that one”. They will come to you and refer their friends and family because of your expertise. Helping you generate referral business, more experience and a strong client base you can ultimately cross-sell additional products and services to.

Finding your specific niche and what you ultimately want to spend a large percentage of your time focused on may take many trials and errors. Be open-minded, discuss the various services and products with other “specialists” in your office, perhaps one will take you under their wing and teach you the trade. Be realistic, it will be difficult for you to engage in the emotional sale of college planning or insurance for a child if you do not have any children of your own to reference. And finally, be thorough, don’t just base your decision to pursue or not pursue a niche based on what someone else tells you or the lack of resources within your office. Investigate a product or service, its features and how you would potentially sell it to the public.

It is thought that more than two million UK motorists are escaping prosecution despite driving cars that are untaxed and uninsured; with this number only set to rise.

Figures discovered by the Conservative party transport department, showed that the number of drivers evading tax had increased over the last decade by 63 per cent, yet the number of people facing prosecution stood only at half. They say that back in 1999 people driving without road tax faced a one in six chance of being caught compared to more recent figures of one in twenty.

A Tory party spokesperson said, “These figures are a shocking indictment of the Government’s truly hopeless record on dealing with rogue drivers. The Government needs to get a grip on this issue. What these stats highlight is that, under this Government, things have been getting steadily worse. Rogue drivers without tax or car insurance are a menace to other road users. The direct result of Labour’s incompetence in dealing with rogue drivers is that our roads are more dangerous.”

The Department for Transport estimate that the number of untaxed cars on Britain’s roads increased over ten years from 1.33 million to 2.17 million, yet the number of successful prosecutions for car tax offences over the same time fell by almost 50 per cent from 204,606 to 103,108.

Government ministers believe this led to a £79 million loss in revenue for the period 2007-2008 alone.

An increase in foreign drivers on the UK’s highways from EU countries, mainly from Eastern Europe, has been blamed for the hike in illegal motorists. Many documents needed to acquire a tax disc are not in order which MP’s believe has contributed to the number of untaxed and uninsured cars.

The Commons public accounts committee released a report describing the Governments record on road tax and car insurance as ‘poor’ adding that they were ‘losing ground’ in the fight against people avoiding these charges and risked becoming a ‘complete laughing stock’ as the situation span out of control.

Chairman of the Commons public accounts committee, Edward Leigh MP said, “Motorists and motorcyclists who refuse to pay road tax and insurance are stealing from law abiding taxpayers.”

The RAC Foundation claimed the figures should be a wake up call for better enforcement measures. Spokeswoman Sheila Rainger said, “Motorists driving without tax are also likely to be driving uninsured and without a MoT certificate. Responsible motorists are not only picking up the tab for evaders, they are also being put at risk by them. The Government needs to boost the number of traffic police carrying out on road crackdowns, so that the motoring underclass and the hardcore tax and insurance dodgers are the ones feeling the pressure, not the law abiding motorists.”

A Department for Transport spokesman revealed that, “The DVLA and this department, together with the police and local authorities, are determined to force tax and insurance evaders off the roads. We are targeting persistent evaders and seizing 100,000 unlicensed vehicles each year. New legislation will allow police, DVLA and local authorities to take action against unlicensed vehicles even if they are not parked on public roads.”

A health insurance broker is just like any other type of broker; this one just happens to specialize in the field of health insurance. A broker is somewhat like a matchmaker. His responsibility is to match up those seeking health insurance with health insurance companies that most closely match that person or group’s needs.

Quality is better than quantity. It is of no use writing numerous pages of nonsense for the reader. Instead, it is better to write a short, and informative article on specific subjects like health insurance. People tend to enjoy it more.

Health insurance brokers are sought by those individuals who, for various reasons, do not belong to a group insurance policy. These individuals are often the self-employed, or those with pre-existing conditions. However, a health insurance broker will also work with the coordinators of group insurance benefits in much the same way he works with an individual. The broker is given a list of desired benefits, either by an individual or a group coordinator, and the broker shops around to find the best match. The health insurance broker then presents what he feels is the best plan based on the list of needs, and if the person or group benefits coordinator agrees, the broker usually works to get a contract signed by both parties.

Who Does the Health Insurance Broker Work For?

It’s important to understand that a health insurance broker does not work for a health insurance company. Instead, a broker makes it his business to know all about the different health insurance companies in the area including their reputations, their frequency of rate increases, and even such things as the way they treat policy holders who submit a lot of medical claims. But even though the health insurance broker is different from a health insurance company, it often does happen that a broker is given an incentive (usually a financial incentive) to recommend one health insurance company over another.

There has been a gradual introduction to the world of health insurance projected in this article. We had done this so that the actual meaning of the article will sink within you.

Nothing abusive about health insurance have been intentionally added here. Whatever it is that we have added, is all informative and productive to you.

Will it Cost More to Use a Broker?

We have not actually resorted to roundabout means of getting our message on health insurance through to you. All the matter here is genuine and to the point.

Does the cost of health insurance differ if it is secured by a broker? That’s difficult to answer in general terms. A health insurance broker might be able to get an individual included in a group plan that is offered by the state or a trade union or organization and in such a case, an applicant might find the rates are lower and the coverage better than if he had attempted directly applying via a health insurance company. Most health insurance brokers work on commission and only make money when they’ve matched up insurer and insured. That means that one party or the other (and in some cases, both parties) typically is responsible for paying the broker’s fee.

Because the rates and the rules regarding health insurance are continually changing, health insurance brokers are few and far between. Most states do have licensing requirements that brokers must meet before they’re allowed to work as a health insurance broker. And because these requirements are issued at the state level, they differ from state to state. But if you find yourself lost in the tangled web of health insurance red tape, consider working with a health insurance broker. That person might just turn out to be your best ally.

A health insurance plan can be expensive, but in today’s world it is most necessary. Even if you are a non-smoker and have a relatively low-risk job, there are accidents that occur every day. If you don’t carry health insurance you are taking a large unnecessary risk. If a tragic event occurs and you seriously need medical care, a health insurance plan will help pay for some if not most of the bills and save you from financial ruin.

Don’t believe that it will never happen to you

People don’t carry health insurance for a couple of reasons. Either, they don’t believe that the unexpected will every happen to them, they don’t think that they can afford it or they’re not entirely sure how a health insurance plan will help them. If you are unsure about what health insurance is, it’s guaranteed protection against enormous medical bills. For a monthly fee, the insurance company agrees to “cover” your expenses if you need medical attention. This is obviously a simplified version of how a health insurance plan works; you will need to investigate further before paying for a coverage plan. Each plan varies by insurance company and will vary from person to person. When just starting to look for medical coverage do you know what to look for?

Before deciding on a medical coverage plan it is best to asses your situation. This will help you understand which options and plans are available to you. Check with your employer, many companies offer some sort of health insurance plan. Also, feel free to contact the insurance company directly and discuss your options with one of their representatives. They will be able to tell you what is and isn’t covered before you decide on a plan of your choice.

Not having a medical coverage is a bad gamble to take. All it takes is one accident and you could easily rack-up ten’s of thousands of dollars in medical bills. It’s always best to have some sort of medical insurance.

Finding The Best Health Insurance Plan

When you first decide to find a health insurance plan it can be difficult not only knowing which plan to pick, but knowing what plans are even available. The following is a look at different health insurance plan options and what they offer:

Most people have a choice from three different health insurance plans;

Private Insurance

These are the plans available to you from your employer. An individual can also purchase insurance through a private insurer. This is the most common of the three.

Medicaid

Medicaid is a government funded program. This insurance is for individuals and families who are considered low income and will have a difficult time affording a private health insurance plan.

Medicare

Medicare is another government funded health insurance program. You may have heard about it in the news lately since a great deal of changes has been enforced concerning Medicare. You must be sixty-five and older to apply for Medicare.

Compare your situation with the above three plan options and you will know which are open to you.

Even if you already have a medical coverage plan, you want to or need to change your plan. Maybe you can get similar coverage with a lower premium with a different private company. Or you just may be dissatisfied with your current insurer and want to change. Generally this is not a problem, however do check with your current provider first.

Some insurers enforce a clause that states that you must be a member for a certain length of time after joining. Depending on your location and insurer stimulations differ. A quick check with your medical plan advisor will alert you to any rules and regulations that you may not be aware of.

With the internet available just about anywhere, it’s relatively easy to find a health insurance coverage. Some internet sites have made it even easier by comparing company plans and premiums. If using the internet is inconvenient, call an insurance agent to get all your questions answered and sign up with a company today!

Summary:

Having health insurance is a must. There’s no reason to take the risk of incurring massive medical bills due to an unforeseen accident. A health insurance plan can be costly, so it pays to look around and find out what options are available to you before deciding. But saving a few bucks by not carrying insurance is not worth it.