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Health insurance is one of your most important needs, generally available through groups and to individuals. It is essential for ensuring your family’s good health and safety. There is a basic premium to be paid either by you or your employer, usually monthly, for your health insurance coverage. Premium is paid by your employer when you receive group insurance at work. Before choosing a plan you need to figure out its total cost to you and your family as insurance plans vary. This information will help you to find out how to choose a health insurance plan that best meets your needs.
Few Tips for buying Health Insurance
- Shop around and compare companies, policies and premiums.
- Try to buy a health insurance through a group insurance plan where you work.
- Include major medical in your insurance coverage.
- Find out what type of services are excluded in the plan.
- If you have a complaint about your insurance agent or company, contact the customer service division of your insurance department.
- Make sure to get a receipt on purchasing a policy.
- Check out what you can do if you disagree with a plan’s decision on medical coverage.
- Find out are there any co-payments you must pay for certain services, such as doctor visits?
- Keep a record of your medical expenses
Basic categories of health plans:
- Traditional Health Insurance or Fee-for-service
It is the most flexible type of health plan, but certain restrictions do apply. Insurance companies pay fees for the services provided to the insured people covered by the policy. You need to pay a monthly fee, called a premium. To share the bill with the insurance company, you need to pay a certain amount each year, known as deductible. You need to fill forms and send them to the insurer, in order to receive claims for your traditional health insurance. There are two kinds of traditional health insurance coverage: basic and major medical. The basic covers the costs of a hospital room and some of its supplies, such as medicines. Major medical insurance covers the long-cost illnesses or injuries. Be sure to check your policy covers both kinds of protection.
This health plan is expensive when compared to other health plans and may require you to do more paper work.
- Health Maintenance Organizations (HMOs)
You are required to pay a monthly premium as they are prepaid health plans. The HMO provides care for you and your family, including emergency care, doctor’s visits, surgery and x-rays. In almost all HMOs, you are either assigned or you choose a doctor to serve as your primary doctor, who monitors your health and provides health care. Many people like HMO as they do not require claim forms for office visits or hospital stays. You need to know the plan cost, monthly fees, service area of your HMO, any limits on medical tests, mental health care and any other payments to be made. In some HMOs, doctors are salaried and they all have they offices in an HMO building at one or more locations in your community as a part of prepaid group practice. Most of the paper work is handled by the organization.
- Preferred Provider Organizations (PPOs)
They are more flexible than HMOs. It’s a combination of traditional health insurance and an HMO. Most PPOs cover preventive care which covers visits to the doctor, baby care etc. As with an HMO, a PPO requires you to choose a primary care doctor to monitor your health care. Some people like this option because if their doctor is not a part of the network, they need not change doctors to join a PPO.
- Point-of-Service Plans (POSs) and
POSs are similar to PPOs, but they introduce the gatekeeper or Primary Care Physician. There may be restrictions on the services you can receive outside the network with a POS plan, like restrictions on mental health services; prescription drugs may not be included.
- Exclusive Provider Organizations (EPOs)
An EPO is similar to an HMO, except that it is regulated by the California Department of Insurance and generally pays physicians and other health care providers differently. They only cover your expenses if you see a physician that is in the EPOs network, unless it is an emergency
Other types of insurance
- Medicare
- Disability Insurance
- Hospital Indemnity Insurance
As all plans are not the same, be sure to read all the details provided in the health plan.
Hope this information provided helped you in deciding the best plan you can afford.
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