Health Insurance for Every Need
In the United States, there are around five types of health insurance available: traditional health insurance; preferred provider or PPO organization; service point or POS plan; health management organization or HMO; and most recently, a health savings account or HSA. With so many types of health insurance, it might be confusing to find out which one best suits your needs, be careful about each and talk to a professional if you need clarification.
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| Health Insurance for Every Need |
Traditional health insurance is insurance that most people think of when they think of health insurance. You pay a premium to the insurance company every month, and if you have an accident or need health coverage, you have the deductible amount you have to pay and then the insurance company takes the remaining bill. You often have cheap offices and / or recipes along with traditional health insurance.
With people living longer, health insurance companies are starting to look for more ways to reduce their costs, developing various health plans such as PPO. PPO is a plan that will cover almost all of your medical expenses as long as you remain in a network of doctors or selected hospitals. This network makes a list of "preferred providers" that you can choose from. Care outside this provider network is borne but only at a reduced rate, which means you end up paying more to see a doctor outside the network. By limiting doctors and hospitals covered by their networks, insurance companies can control, to a certain extent, their costs and reduce your premiums. The POS package functions like a PPO, but requires you to have a primary care doctor with whom you can receive referrals for specialists. If you need to see a neurologist or dermatologist, you should first visit your primary care doctor for an initial diagnosis to receive referrals to specialists for a more comprehensive diagnosis. POS packages also have a preferred network of providers, and if you choose to visit a specialist or doctor outside the network, your coverage will be limited.
HMOs incorporate more stringent PPO and POS plans. HMOs have a list of prescribed doctors, often much smaller than the PPO network, which you might see. You will not be covered at all if you see a doctor outside your HMO network. In addition, you should also get a referral from your primary care HMO doctor to see a specialist. However, this restriction means you pay extra low premiums or not at all.
HSA was recently signed into law by President Bush. You can deposit money into a special savings account without taxes and interest that must be used for medical expenses. The ideal situation for HSA is to combine accounts with a low-cost and high deductible insurance plan. Savings accounts are designed to allow you to cover a high deductible if you find a need to cover expensive medical costs while the insurance company will take the remaining bill.
Again, it is important to consider each choice carefully before choosing a health insurance package. Your health is important - make sure it's protected in the best way.