All You Need To Know About Health Insurance
All You Need To Know About Health Insurance
Health Insurance in America is the most important type of insurance you can get, if you where to get sick the amount of money you would end up paying can lead to financial ruin unless you are adequately covered. In saying that Health insurance can be very expensive and it is important that you are an educated consumer before you purchase it.
Types of Health Insurance Policies
There are two main areas of the Health Insurance:
- Indemnity Policies - This kind of Insurance Policy allows you to decide on what doctors you want to use and it will pay for any procedures or treatments that happen under their care, these kinds of policies can be yearly or for a number of set months.
- Managed Care Policies - These are the most popular kind of insurance and usually the cheaper alternative, they provide coverage to you bases on a certain number of health care specialists and companies. By doing this is can offer you significantly reduced premiums and cheaper health care when you do actually get sick.
Health Insurance Coverage
When you set out to purchase some health insurance you should be aware of the various aspects of coverage that the policy provides you with. It should have Hospital coverage (This covers any costs involved with your hospital stay) General Practitioner coverage (This will cover any regular trips to the doctor), Prescription Drugs coverage (This covers any pills or medical treatments you might need before or after surgery or on a ongoing basis) and Surgery Coverage (This covers the cost of having a surgeon perform work on you).
You should also think about other coverage that will suit your needs, depending on the type of person you are and your medical history/state. For instance if you need glasses you should think about including Optical care into your policy as it will make you eye related costs shrink, also if you are thinking of having a baby, many couples/families will take out additional Maternity coverage to help cover the cost. Another optional extra that almost all people bundle together with their Health Insurance is Dental Insurance, this covers any work that needs to be done on your teeth and although it sounds like it should come with Health insurance most of the time it is an optional extra.
The cost of Health Insurance Premiums
In order to pay for Health Insurance you will need to pay premiums, these are usually paid monthly and can add up to quite a significant amount. However there are also other costs that are involved when you take out a Health Insurance Policy, the most common one is the deductible, this is the amount of money you pay before the Insurance policy will cover the rest - it could range from a couple of hundred dollars right the way up to a couple of thousand depending on the procedure. The trick is to find the right balance, if you visit the hospital a lot for expensive treatments having a higher monthly premium and reduced deductible can save you money. There will also be a co-payment charge for whenever you visit the hospital or health care professional, you should check with the insurance provider as to how much this is and whether it changes depending on who you visit, checking this information can save you a lot of money.
Single, Family or Group?
Depending on your situation in life, there are a variety of options available to you in order to get insured. You can be insured individually, via your family or by Group Insurance (usually offered through your employer). The benefits of going it by yourself are increased options available to you as you can add or remove parts based on whether you need them; however the benefits of going family or with a group are that the cost will be significantly reduced. Shop around though in order to get the best prices on your insurance.
Make sure that when you are deciding on an Insurance company that they have good financials as well, there is nothing worse than paying your premiums and having your Insurance Company being unable to cover the cost of your medical procedures.