Health Insurance Intro
Millions of people in the country don't have any form of health insurance. Especially with the increasing costs of medical expenses, buying health insurance could end up saving you more money in the long run.
There are two main categories of health insurance: indemnity plans and managed care plans. Indemnity plans are also known as reimbursement health plans. Managed care health plans include the more well known health maintenance organizations (HMOs), , preferred provider organizations (PPOs), and point of service (POS) plans.
Indemnity Plans
Indemnity health plans give you the option of choosing your own doctors and pays either all or part of your medical expenses.
Managed Care Plans
Managed care plans includes a group of selected network healthcare providers such as doctors, hospitals, and other physicans. In a HMO plan, you will be required to select a primary care physician (PCP) that will need to approve your visits to any other specialists should you need or want. In a PPO plan, you have the option of going to other doctors outside of your network but are forced to pay more out of pocket.
What should health insurance cover?
- Hospital expenses: hospital room, board, and incidental services costs if you're hospitalized.
- Surgical expenses: covers surgeons' fees and related costs associated with surgery.
- Physicians' expenses: pays for visits to a doctor's office or for a doctor's hospital visits.
- Major medical insurance offers extremely broad coverage with a very high maximum benefit that's designed to protect you against losses from catastrophic illness or injury.
What might be covered?
More expensive health insurance plans will cover the items below:
- Prescription drugs
- Preventive care
- Mental health benefits
- Maternity care
- Vision care
Cost of Health Insurance
Health insurance will cost you a monthly premium and any additional out of pocket costs such as co-pay or medical expenses that are not completely covered by the insurance. Most plans usually have an annual deductible, meaning you must reach the amount before the health insurance will kick in.
Get Health Insurance
Most employers will have a group health insurance to their employees. However, smaller companies may not offer this and employees, just like self-employed business owners will have to find health insurance on their own. The Internet is a great resource to compare multiple health insurance quotes in a matter of minutes.
