A Basic Health Insurance guide to help you with
your insurance needs. Also we show you where to get free quotes
If you are like millions of Americans you might decide to live
without health insurance. Your job might not have a health plan
and if you are married your spouse might not have one either.
In your situation, you might conclude that an individual or a family
health insurance plan is your only way to get coverage. So you checked
out a few of these plans and found out that the premium the health
insurance companies demand are prohibitive. There's no way you can
get an affordable health insurance policy. So you are back to where
you started.
Millions of Americans have gone through the same health insurance
circle you've been through and the sad fact is that it doesn't seem
like it's going to change anytime soon. However, there are a few
things you could do to better understand your health insurance situation.
So, let's begin with the basics...
Basic health insurance terms you should become familiar with
Health insurance is designed to provide coverage for your various
health care needs. For this coverage a monthly premium (a fee) is
paid to the insurance provider. Next comes the deductible, which
is an amount in dollars you pay for services rendered. You'll have
to meet the deductible before the insurance company pay their share.
Insurance companies also want you to pay a percentage of your health
care cost which is called coinsurance. If this amount is in dollars
instead of percentage it is called co-payments.
Now that we cleared up the basic vocabulary we'll use in this guide
lets move onto the type of health care plans available to you.
The two major types of health care plans
available
Health insurance plans are usually viewed as either managed care
or indemnity plans. With an indemnity plan you pay for health services
received and then you are reimbursed a portion of the cost as stated
in your policy. It is the most flexible of all the health care plans
though you'll have to spend more for the flexibility.
An indemnity plan might not be for you since it does not cover
preventative care. So if you want to get annual check-ups you'll
have to pay for these services. This could add up especially if
you have children who also need annual check-ups.
Managed care is different in that you are offered various services
at a reduced price from doctors who participate in the health plan
network. The reason for this price reduction and broad range of
services is the amount of patients the plan provide to doctors and
other care givers who participate in the plan. Also, unlike indemnity
plans, you only pay a small portion of the cost (called co-payment)
and the rest of the bill is submitted to the insurer for payment.
If
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Free health insurance quotes
eHealthInsurance.com
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InsuranceFinder.com
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three types of managed care plans
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