Health Care Insurance FAQ

Got questions about health care insurance ? Here are the top 10 health care insurance questions and answers:

<h3>What kinds of health care insurance programs are there?</h3>

There are two basic kinds of health care insurance programs - indemnity programs and managed heathcare programs. Indemnity programs let you select your own physician, while managed heathcare programs - HMOs, PPOs, and POSs - assign you to a network of medical providers and hospitals. Managed heathcare programs are less flexible, but much cheaper than indemnity policys.

<h3>What isan Health Maintenance Organization?</h3>

With an Health Maintenance Organization you pay a monthly premium for which you’re assigned to a network of medical providers specialists, and hospitals who provide your medical care. A primary care medical provider oversees your care and you can only see medical providers within your network. Prescriptions may completely covered or partially covered and generally require a co-pay of $5 to $10. That is the cheapest kind of health care insurance.

<h3>What is a PPO?</h3>

A PPO is similar to an Health Maintenance Organization, but it allows you to visit non-network medical providers without a referral from your primary care physician. You may have to pay for the non-network medical providers fee, then get partial reimbursement from your PPO provider. Co-Pays are generally $5 to $10, and this plan expenses  a little more than an Health Maintenance Organization.

<h3>What is a POS?</h3>

A POS plan is a combination of an Health Maintenance Organization and a POS plan. You select a primary care medical provider within your network, but you can also see medical providers outside the network. If your primary care medical provider refers you to an outside medical provider your POS provider picks up the expenses . That is the most flexible and the most costly of the three managed heathcare programs.

<h3>What is a deductible?</h3>

A deductible is the amount you pay toward a claim before the insurance carrier pays.

<h3>What is coinsurance?</h3>

Coinsurance is the percentage of your medical expenses  you have to pay after you pay your deductible.

<h3>What is a co-pay?</h3>

A co-pay is the amount you must pay when you visit a physician.

<h3>How do I select a health care insurance plan?</h3>

In an ideal situation , you want to select a plan that will provide you the most amount of benefits for the least amount of money. If you want to continue seeing your current physician, find out what programs he or she is associated with. And if you’ve special medical needs, make sure the plan you select will provide for those needs.

Other things to consider when picking a health care insurance plan are:
<ul>
<li>• What are the co-pays, deductibles, and coinsurances?</li>
<li>• Will the plan cover pre-existing conditions?</li>
<li>• What is the waiting period for pre-existing conditions?</li>
<li>• Will the insurance carrier give me good service?</li>
</ul>
<h3>Where can I get cheap health care insurance ?</h3>

Insurance premiums vary substantially from one company to another, so you want to get proposals from a few corporations in order to get the best price.

The quickestway to get proposals from different corporations is to go to an insurance comparison Web site. Once there you’ll complete a short questionnaire, then receive your proposals. The best comparison sites only deal with A-rated  insurance carriers 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.)

<h3>How do I know I am getting a reliable health care insurance company?</h3>

Among the best places to check out an insurance carrier is your state’s Department of Insurance Web site. You can also visit J.D. Power & Associate’s Web site (jdpower.com) to get consumer ratings on insurance corporations, and A.M. Best’s Web site (ambest.com) to get financial ratings.