Choosing a health insurance plan that's right for you starts with understanding how insurance works.
Choosing health insurance plan requires you to do some checks and ask certain questions before zeroing down on a right one. Only then you can get the health insurance benefits and balance your changing health insurance needs.
These are the key points to be considered before choosing health insurance for you and your family.
Coverage details
According to the new reforms in health insurance laws, the employer issuing the employee health insurance plan should have made some required changes according to the law, only then those health insurance benefits will be available to you otherwise not. These include free coverage with no co-pay for preventive services like blood pressure or depression screening, smoking cessation programs, and immunizations. You can read the plan material to learn about the health insurance benefits and coverage you will get.
Matching your needs
Before choosing your health insurance plan you should know the type of plan. The health insurance can be one of the three types.
- HMO
If it is health maintenance organization (HMO) plan then you have to rely on the physicians from a specific network. This gives you affordability but less flexibility.
- PPO
If you have the preferred private organization (PPO) plan then you can select your preferred physician from outside the network for a heftier fee; or stay in-network. The out-of-pocket costs are usually higher for PPO’s than for HMO’s.
- PSO
If your plan is Point of service, then it has the combination of the elements of HMO’s and PPO’s. They give you the option to pay more for venturing out of network, but usually require you to choose a primary care physician within the network and get a referral from that physician before seeing any specialist.
Review before enrolling
Check before choosing health insurance plan that some services given to you last year are withdrawn in this year. They be disease or coverage or may be cost related so now you have to pay more to cover your spouse or parents.
Perform need analysis
This will help you a lot in choosing health insurance as needs are subjected to change with passing time and this year you might want your child to be included into your insurance as your family has increased.. You need to measure the health insurance benefits that match your needs.
Preferred doctors
Check while choosing health insurance whether your preferred doctors and hospitals are covered inside the physician network given by the health insurance. In the new rule, women in non-grandfathered plans now have the freedom to see an obstetrician-gynecologist without a referral. But your health insurance needs to be a POS and not an HMO for that.
Cost
Perform the comparative cost analysis look for health insurance benefits. It will help you select the best one for you in your budget and not overshoot. If you are young and healthy then you can reduce your premiums by not availing out of pocket benefits even before the coverage starts for you. Calcualte your share of the cost while getting the claims against health insurance benefits.
Freebies are misnomers
Freebies should not allure you to choose health insurance plan for you. Rather it should be based on the balance between your needs and the health insurance plan offerings. There is no need to switch the plan for some free preventive cares as they are now offered free by almost all plans.
Lowering premiums
You might identify fitness programs that will help your employer save money on insurance coverage. Also lowering your premiums will not reduce your health insurance benefits. Identify those coverages where you can provide your input to save cost for your employer and yourself.
Special coverage
If you have a family history of needing vision correction, or if someone in you family does, vision insurance should benefit you. The insurance covers a percentage of your check-ups and eyeglass or contact purchases. Vision coverage is not required, and some people spend less money not having this type of coverage.
Choosing Health Insurance Plan
Tax deductions
Following are important to save money while choosing health insurance for you and your family
- Any money you spend to cover your deductible, your prescriptions, or any visits that your insurance doesn’t cover can also be deducted from your taxable income.
- The health insurance premiums you pay are deducted from your taxes.
- The money spent on deductibles, co-pays and prescriptions are also tax deductions.
Personal information guard
Resist your temptation to share all your personal details with the insurance personnel it may lead to reducing your coverage or excluding certain benefits from your health insurance plan coverage. Only answer those questions which they ask from you while choosing health insurance.
Generic drug prescription
All health insurance have the reduced costs for all if the prescription done is generic in nature though in some case it is not possible to do so hence they are exceptions.
