Private Insurance

All about Insurance (Life, Personal, Car (Auto), Property, Fire, Direct, General, Healthcare etc)

Top 10 Health Insurance Questions and Answers

Tuesday, July 31, 2007

Author: Brian Stevens

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

1. What kinds of health insurance plans are there?

There are two basic types of health insurance plans - indemnity plans and managed health care plans. Indemnity plans let you choose your own physician, while managed health care plans - HMOs, PPOs, and POSs - assign you to a network of physicians and hospitals. Managed health care plans are less flexible, but much cheaper than indemnity plans.

2. What's an HMO?

With an HMO you pay a monthly premium for which you are assigned to a network of physicians, specialists, and hospitals who provide your medical care. A primary care physician oversees your care and you can only see physicians within your network. Prescriptions may completely covered or partially covered and generally require a co-payment of $5 to $10. This is the cheapest type of health insurance.

3. What's a PPO?

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

4. What's a POS?

A POS plan is a combination of an HMO and a POS plan. You choose a primary care physician within your network, but you can also see physicians outside the network. If your primary care physician refers you to an outside physician your POS provider picks up the costs. This is the most flexible and the most costly of the three managed health care plans.

5. What is a deductible?

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

6. What's coinsurance?

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

7. What is a co-payment?

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

8. How do I choose a health insurance plan?

Ideally, you want to choose a plan that will give you the most amount of benefits for the least amount of money. If you want to continue seeing your current physician, find out what plans he or she is associated with. And if you have special medical needs, make sure the plan you choose will provide for those needs.

Other things to consider when choosing a health insurance plan are:

* What are the co-payments, deductibles, and coinsurances?
* Does the plan cover pre-existing conditions?
* What is the waiting period for pre-existing conditions?
* Will the insurance company give me good service?

9. Where can I get cheap health insurance?

Insurance premiums vary substantially from one company to another, so you want to get quotes from several companies in order to get the best price.

The quickest way to get quotes from different companies is to go to an insurance comparison website. Once there you'll fill out a short questionnaire, then receive your quotes. The best comparison sites only deal with A-rated insurance companies 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.)

10. How do I know I'm getting a reliable health insurance company?

One of the best places to check out an insurance company is your state's department of insurance website. You can also visit J.D. Power & Associate's website (jdpower.com) to get consumer ratings on insurance companies, and A.M. Best's website (ambest.com) to get financial ratings.

Visit http://www.LowerRateQuotes.com/health-insurance.html or click on the following link to get cheap health insurance quotes from top-rated companies and see how much you can save. You can get more insurance tips in their Articles section.

Article Source: ArticlesBase.com

About the Author:
The author, Brian Stevens, is a former insurance agent and financial consultant who has written extensively on health insurance questions.

Labels:

posted by mSteven, 10:40 AM

9 Comments:

So how do I get liability insurance for weekend shows, like Renaissance Festivals that won't cost me an arm and a leg! I mean, I have been doing these shows now for 12 years, with NO incidents, yet for some reason, the venues all want "liability insurance" so that I can actually set up and sell my swords and knives! And another thing, I have been teaching how to handle swords (my belt is in Kenjuitsu...thats what they pretend to use in the movie Kill Bill", again, for 8 years without a single incident. I have graduated more than 700 students, yet when I want to branch out and rent a church basement or some such venue, some suit shows up and says "Well, we will rent it to ya, but ya gotta have liability insurance".
You have an answer for me, you drop into my blog and we'll chat. I will most likely even buy some insurance because the dildoes I am dealing with now are pricing themselves way out of MY market!

http:yusefjournal.blogspot.com
this is actually a surprisingly helpful website. I'm a father of two and have a wife and although I'm 24 I still think about what would happen especially after the tragedy in Minnesota. If you're into the "candy store" of life, you can check out my sports blog at http://www.thedouble-ushow.blogspot.com
Hi…

You have a very interesting blog..

My name is Ahmad… Do visit me at gitnasia.blogspot.com. I have a wonderful thing to share with you that will definitely benefit you and family and those that you care.

Let me give you a sneak preview.

GIT in ASIA is an exciting and unique business opportunity that has been designed to dramatically change - FOREVER - the destiny and financial future of our MEMBERS.

We have been able to accomplish this by introducing to the world revolutionary and exclusive products combined with the very best income opportunity available.

Let us lead you into a new era of your life.

Join GIT in ASIA today! VISIT YES.GITNASIA.COM NOW

NOW… WITH "PRACTICALLY FREE" GREAT HOLIDAYS & PASSIVE INCOME... YOU WILL DEFINITELY NEED GREAT HEALTH.

And so we have CELLFOOD.

CELLFOOD is the world's leading high-performance oxygen and hydrogen based consumer health product. For over 40 years, CELLFOOD has safely provided nutritional benefits, without toxicity.

Visit GITNASIA.BLOGSPOT.COM for more information.

Ahmad Abu Samah
Mobile: +65 82221976
Email: no.1era@yahoo.com
Our health insurance system in the US is definately in need of upgrading.
nice blog
nice blog
nice blog
Greetings, I really enjoy reading your blog, you provide great value. Thank You.
Sam

P.S. If you would like loads of free traffic to your blog visit this site.
http://www.blogrush.com/r15529222
Wow. So many things that I wanted to know are resolved after reading this post. One thing that is sill unresolved is which health`insurance plan is the best option for an individual and in lesser price. I will be really grateful to you if you do throw some light in this area too. Thanks.
commercial insurance company

Add a comment


Click to go H.O.M.E.
Didn't find what you're looking for? Try our specialized insurance search engine http://insuring-swicki.eurekster.com/