HEALTH INSURANCEIf you happen to live in a country that does not provide universal health care, you probably will need to consider obtaining health insurance. Even if your country has universal health care, you may still choose to purchase a supplemental policy. REASONS YOU MIGHT NEED HEALTH INSURANCEAs medical care advances and treatments increase, health care costs also increase. The purpose of health insurance is to help you pay for care. It protects you and your family financially in the event of an unexpected serious illness or injury that could be very expensive. In addition, you are more likely to get routine and preventive care if you have medical insurance. You need health insurance because you cannot predict what your medical bills will be. In some years, your costs may be low. In other years, you may have very high medical expenses. If you have health insurance, you will have peace of mind in knowing that you are protected from most of these costs. You should not wait until you or a family member becomes seriously ill to try to purchase medical insurance. We also know that there is a link between having health insurance and getting better health care. Research shows that people with medical insurance are more likely to have a regular doctor and to get care when they need it.
Major medical insurance is a type of health insurance that is designed to cover most primary medical expenses, such as hospital care, prescription medicines, and surgery. The precise coverage offered by policies can vary considerably. Most insurance companies clearly specify medical issues that their policies will, and will not, cover. For example, a major medical insurance plan usually does not cover cosmetic surgery, because it is treated as an elective procedure. Many policies also do not cover alternative medical treatments such as massage therapy or acupuncture. Dental and mental health care often are limited or are not included in basic plans.When a major medical insurance policy is written, the insured party pays a premium. Insurance premiums may be due monthly, quarterly, or yearly, depending on the terms of the plan. Typically, there is a brief waiting period before the coverage begins. This is designed to discourage people from only seeking insurance when they anticipate heavy medical expenses, such as those associated with a cancer diagnosis. People with pre-existing conditions may also find that these conditions are explicitly excluded from their major medical insurance. With passage of comprehensive health care reform legislation in the USA in 2010, insurance companies no longer can deny coverage to persons with pre-existing conditions. However, it remains to be seen how this new policy will be enforced. Paying a premium usually does not mean that the insured party gets free care in all of the areas covered by the policy. Most policies come with a deductible, a set dollar amount that the policyholder must pay before the insurance will start covering expenses. In a so-called first dollar policy, there is no deductible, and the insurance pays from the start. But the premium can be substantially higher. Policyholders with major medical insurance also may be responsible for copays or coinsurance. A copay is a set dollar amount that is paid by the policyholder each time a service is accessed. Coinsurance means that the insurance company covers a set percentage of health care, and the patient is responsible for the remaining portion. Copays and coinsurance are often designed on a sliding scale, like a $10 (USD) copay for prescriptions as opposed to $25 (USD) for office visits, or coinsurance which covers 90% of prescriptions, but only 80% of office visits.
Although many people have employer-provided health insurance, a growing number are finding themselves responsible for choosing their own medical insurance provider. Purchasing your own medical coverage can seem like a daunting task. However, you can simplify the task by setting a firm budget, prioritizing your health care needs, and doing some careful comparison shopping. Knowing how much you can afford to spend on your health plan is an important step in choosing the best medical insurance provider. If you have a general idea of what type of premiums you can afford, it will be easier to research the coverage options that are available. As a general rule, a Preferred Provider Organization (PPO) will cost more than a Health Maintenance Organization (HMO) because it allows you more flexibility in choosing which doctors and specialists you wish to see. As with auto insurance, higher deductibles mean lower premiums. However, you need to consider how much you can realistically afford to pay in the event of a serious accident or illness. Before you choose a medical insurance provider, it is wise to devote some time considering what factors are most important to you. For example, if you are a woman that is thinking about starting a family soon, medical coverage for pregnancy and childbirth will be a priority. If you have a young child at home, coverage for emergency room visits might be an important consideration. Coverage for chiropractic care may be important to some. But not all types of medical insurance plans provide this benefit.Once you have set a budget and decided what your coverage priorities will be, it is time to obtain quotes from several different insurance providers. If you live in the USA, there are a number of websites offering comparison quotes for the major insurers. This will give you a good starting point for choosing the best medical insurance provider. You can also try doing your own research by directly calling companies recommended to you by family and friends that have purchased their own health insurance. If you belong to any associations, such as a professional development organization or the alumni association of a university, ask if they offer medical insurance as a member benefit. In many cases, these policies will be more affordable than plans you can purchase as an individual. Sometimes, people may even choose to join an organization just to take advantage of the medical coverage benefit.
SUPPLEMENTAL HEALTH INSURANCEComprehensive major medical insurance is designed to act as someone's primarily health insurance policy, covering everything that she or she might need. Supplemental coverage, on the other hand, piggybacks with another health insurance policy to ensure that the policyholders has complete coverage. Whether or not you decide to purchase supplemental health insurance depends on several important factors.
If you answered yes to any of these questions, you may want to investigate supplemental health insurance that will offer cash benefits to defray medical costs and other expenses incurred due to sickness or injury. There are three main types of supplemental health policies.
When purchasing supplemental policies, it is important to avoid overinsurance. Redundancy benefits the insurance companies, not you. Make sure that your supplemental policy actually supplements your primary insurance. Refuse to pay for packages that may provide coverage in areas that you want but also have significant overlap with your regulary policy and charge you a lot for this redundancy.
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What Is Major Medical Insurance?