1. Health care insurance can be confusing for those who have
some experience with that. For those who are new to it, it
could be downright unfathomable. A good place to begin
learning more about the issues behind health care
insurance is using the basics.
2. There are, generally, 2 kinds of health care insurance:
indemnity and managed care which is often referred to as
HMO.
3. Indemnity medical insurance is also known as "fee-for-
service". This type of insurance can provide the most
flexibility because it enables you to pick your own
doctor, doctors, hospitals, etc. The downside is that it's
going to cost a good deal more than the particular
managed types of health care plans. These kinds of added
costs may be reflected in the premiums that you
spend, but they will certainly be shown in the out of
pocket costs that you have to pay when you go for health
care. For many people, the out of pocket expenses can
make indemnity health insurance a non-option.
4. Along with much higher out of pocket cost you also are
required to pay an annual allowable, which can range
from a few hundred dollars to a few thousand dollars. This
specific amount must be paid prior to a insurance will
even begin to pay.
5. Once the annual deductible has been paid into your
account, the insurer will then pay a portion of what is
owed. You will normally have to create a co-payment of
around twenty percent or so, and also the insurance
company will then pay it is eighty percent. If the doctor or
some other health professional charges high prices to
begin with, you may end up paying out a higher rate
because the insurance company will usually pay only what
it considers being "usual and customary" fees for the
company.
6. Generally, indemnity health care insurance covers only
illness or accidents, and pay for preventive care such as
winter flu shots or birth control medications or devices.
Depending on your policy, it may or may not pay for
prescription drugs or psychotherapy.
7. Managed care can be looked at as the opposite of
indemnity care. Which has a health maintenance
organization (HMO), your deductibles are often smaller
than with other plans. In some cases, there could not be
any deductibles in any way. Co-payments are almost
always fixed and placed low. Most preventive
care, medicines, and mental health treatment therapy is
covered but you should always check into this.
8. The downside to managed care health insurance is that
you have to choose from doctors, hospitals, as well as
other health care providers who have contracts with the
HMO. In other words, you cannot simply go to whomever
you want. Also, that you are limited to receive only those
health services authorized by the plan that you've got. If
you use non-authorized providers or acquire non-
authorized care, your insurance won't pay any portion of
the expenses.
9. Because many people did not honest safe music
downloads restrictions, managed care initiated a policy of
to evolve to include hybrid plans that blend HMOs with a
bit of of the features of indemnity health care insurance
coverage.
10. One example is the Point-of-Service plan. When you are
under a point-of-service plan (POS), you can your overall
costs low with a network of doctors plus hospitals that
have contracts with all your insurer. If you decide to go
outside a network that has been set up to the plan, you
will have to pay a new deductible as well as higher co-
payments for the services rendered.