The Sun's Financial Diary

U.S. Department of Health & Human Services recently launched a website, Hospital Compare, that allows patients to compare measures of quality of care of more than 2500 hospitals nationwide. The website, which was created by the joint effort of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services of DHHS and the Hospital Quality Alliance (HQA), is [...]

When I first learned that my wife’s employer will provide a high deductible health insurance plan next year, I was quite happy that the option is finally offered because using such a plan ($3,000 annual deductible for a family) can 1) save us on health insurance premium now; 2) save money on future health care [...]

In late December I wrote a piece on how to use health savings account (HSA) to save money on health care in the future. Today, an article appeared on Kiplinger’s Personal Finance website further illustrated the idea of using HSA as a financial planning tool rather than simply a health care account. According to the [...]

The Health Savings Account (HSA) by definition, according to the Treasury Department, “is an alternative to traditional health insurance; it is a savings product that offers a different way for consumers to pay for their health care.” And it is created to help you “pay for current health expenses and save for future qualified medical [...]

First, I'd like to remind you that I am having a small "Investor Psychology Contest" with a prize of $20 before 4:00 pm this Friday. If you are interested in participating, click here and leave your best guess of the closing number of the Dow on November 22nd.  Ok, now the main story. For many [...]

During our last visit for a scheduled checkup, we were informed that our help plan, Aetna HMO (we didn’t choose PPO or POS plan mainly because we are still young, in good health, and only use our doctor for annual physical), will no longer be accepted by the hospital. The reason, as we heard from [...]