Don't Buy Medical Insurance Unless You Understand These Five Things
Posted: Thursday, November 19, 2009
by Alston Balkcom
1800insuranceCT.com
- Does the medical insurance plan meet the minimum standards?
- Do you know what is NOT covered?
- How good is their network of physicians?
- How well is it priced?
- Are you getting the best deductible?
You should be sure that your medical care insurance company is really a health insurance carrier and meets the minimum standards for your state.
The best way to make sure that you are dealing with an actual healthcare insurance company is to check with your state's department of insurance. They will have a list of approved health-care insurance companies.
You should understand what a given health-care insurance company covers and does not cover.
You should read the outline of coverage or brochure for any medical care insurance contract you are considering. There will be a section that mentions the "exclusions and limitations." Read this section carefully. Most of the items in this section will be the same from policy to policy. However, this won't be 100 percent true. Make sure that you are comfortable with the things the contract doesn't cover.
You should understand how good their network is in your area.
Is your doctor in the company's network? If not, are there other doctors in the network who are close to your home or office? Is your local hospital in their network? Will you be able to get emergency coverage when you are on vacation in another state?
If you are a spend a lot of time in a second home, it is important to know if you can get your non-emergency care in taken care of in the area near both homes. Most health insurance policies will cover emergency care well whether or not you use network providers. However, many will not cover routine care well if at all if the services are performed outside of the network.
You should know if a contract is well priced. Make sure that it is competitively priced when compared to other similar medical insurance contracts from other health care insurance carriers. You may be surprised to know how much of a price variance there is between similar policies.
You should know whether or not a policy is priced well when the deductible and other cost shares are concerned.
This involves doing a little math. When comparing two similar health insurance policies with different deductibles, be sure to annualize the deductible and the price when judging medical insurance contracts. Often when we do this we are able to pick out bargains. Although it is true that when you pay more for a contract you can expect to have a lower deductible and vice versa, you may find that the premium drops faster than the deductible rises.
Look at your net costs in different situations. This will help you determine whether a company is charging too much for a low deductible plan. Add up what you would pay for your health care expenses when you include not just your annualized premium and your annualized deductible and other cost shares. You will probably find that a medium or even a high deductible plan will be your best option.
The more knowledge you have, the better choices you will make regarding your medical care insurance policy. Knowing if a contract meets your state's minimum standards, knowing the limitations of the plan, making sure that the network is adequate and being able to judge prices and deductibles are all important when it comes to finding the best healthcare insurance policy for your family.
Alston Balkcom is a veteran insurance agent. You can find insurance price quotes on his site.
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