| By Brian Stevens
Got questions about health insurance? Here
are the top 10 health insurance questions and
answers:
1. What kinds of health insurance plans are
there?
There are two basic types of health insurance
plans - indemnity plans and managed health care
plans. Indemnity plans let you choose your own
physician, while managed health care plans -
HMOs, PPOs, and POSs - assign you to a network
of physicians and hospitals. Managed health
care plans are less flexible, but much cheaper
than indemnity plans.
2. What's an HMO?
With an HMO you pay a monthly premium for which
you are assigned to a network of physicians,
specialists, and hospitals who provide your
medical care. A primary care physician oversees
your care and you can only see physicians within
your network. Prescriptions may completely covered
or partially covered and generally require a
co-payment of $5 to $10. This is the cheapest
type of health insurance.
3. What's a PPO?
A PPO is similar to an HMO, but it allows you
to visit non-network physicians without a referral
from your primary care physician. You may have
to pay for the non-network physicians fee, then
get partial reimbursement from your PPO provider.
Co-payments are generally $5 to $10, and this
plan costs a little more than an HMO.
4. What's a POS?
A POS plan is a combination of an HMO and a
POS plan. You choose a primary care physician
within your network, but you can also see physicians
outside the network. If your primary care physician
refers you to an outside physician your POS
provider picks up the costs. This is the most
flexible and the most costly of the three managed
health care plans.
5. What is a deductible?
A deductible is the amount you pay toward a
claim before the insurance company pays.
6. What's coinsurance?
Coinsurance is the percentage of your medical
expenses you have to pay after you pay your
deductible.
7. What is a co-payment?
A co-payment is the amount you must pay when
you visit a physician.
8. How do I choose a health insurance plan?
Ideally, you want to choose a plan that will
give you the most amount of benefits for the
least amount of money. If you want to continue
seeing your current physician, find out what
plans he or she is associated with. And if you
have special medical needs, make sure the plan
you choose will provide for those needs.
Other things to consider when choosing a health
insurance plan are:
* What are the co-payments, deductibles, and
coinsurances?
* Does the plan cover pre-existing conditions?
* What is the waiting period for pre-existing
conditions?
* Will the insurance company give me good service?
9. Where can I get cheap health insurance?
Insurance premiums vary substantially from one
company to another, so you want to get quotes
from several companies in order to get the best
price.
The quickest way to get quotes from different
companies is to go to an insurance comparison
website. Once there you'll fill out a short
questionnaire, then receive your quotes. The
best comparison sites only deal with A-rated
insurance companies so you know you'll be getting
a reputable company. They also have an insurance
expert on call to answer your questions. (See
link below.)
10. How do I know I'm getting a reliable health
insurance company?
One of the best places to check out an insurance
company is your state's department of insurance
website. You can also visit J.D. Power &
Associate's website (jdpower.com) to get consumer
ratings on insurance companies, and A.M. Best's
website (ambest.com) to get financial ratings.
Visit http://www.LowerRateQuotes.com/health-insurance.html
or click on the following link to get cheap
health insurance quotes from top-rated companies
and see how much you can save. You can get more
insurance tips in their Articles section.
The author, Brian Stevens, is a former insurance
agent and financial consultant who has written
extensively on health insurance questions.
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