How To Purchase Family Health Insurance Like A Pro
Providing Family Health Insurance Coverage for your Family
Purchasing family health insurance coverage today can be very confusing. A large majority of Americans who are working are able to get some sort of group health coverage through their employer which makes the process for them very simple. Do you want the group coverage they offer or not? If yes, then all you have to do from there is figure out whether your want coverage for your entire family as well.
Searching for Family Health Insurance
But for the rest of us who may be self-employed or work for a company that doesn’t offer family health insurance coverage to their employees, we have to search on or own, fill out quote forms, research the different health insurance companies, compare dozens of plans and probably get extremely disgusted with the process.
Family Health Insurance the process
That process doesn’t sound like a whole lot of fun to us, so we thought we would simplify things for you a little bit. When it comes to buying family health coverage, do you really know what the most important aspects of a health insurance plan are, and why you should understand what to look for while you’re comparing insurance polices?
For most of us the answer to that question is no, so for you, here’s some little helpful tips.
Comparing Family Health Insurance
When you’re comparing family health insurance companies, first look for insurance companies you know of and are familiar with. If you have no clue at all where to begin, ask members of your family or one of your co-workers, they should be able to point you in the right direction to at least get you started.
The good news is all family health insurance companies must be licensed with each state’s department of health before they can write health insurance polices in that particular state. So at least you know if they’re selling policies in your state, they have at least passed some level of governmental licensing review.
Buy Family Health Insurance From A Name You Know
There are a lot of big named companies doing business in the family health insurance area like, Blue Cross, Aetna, Assurant and Humana among others and have been around for a long time and will still be around when you need them most.
Comparing PPO & HMO family health insurance plans.
Do you know what the difference is between PPO (preferred provider organization) & HMO (health maintenance organization)? A PPO is a network of doctors that accept a particular insurance plan with pre-negotiated pricing. With a PPO network, you have in-network and out-of-network provider benefits. Basically you have more reasonably priced services by using in-network providers. As a rule, you can see any doctor in-network at any time without needing a referral.
On the other hand, with an HMO network, you will need a referral to see any doctor other than your primary care physician. The big difference between the two is you have more control over what doctor you wish to see with a PPO family insurance plan which can give you better control of your healthcare options. With an HMO, you are limited to using their doctors, and only their facilities.
Comparing family health insurance benefits, plan by plan.
Deductibles, doctor co-pays, co-insurance, prescription co-pays, there are a lot of different options, and many of them can be very confusing.
Here is the simplest way for us to explain it. When you go to the doctor’s office, you pay your doctor’s office co-pay. This is usually a set price like a $25 or $50 co-pay.
The same thing usually applies for prescription drug coverage as well. However with some prescription drug coverage plans, many family health insurance companies have been going to a percentage of the prescription cost, versus a set deductible amount.
For the most part, any service done out-side of your primary care doctors office like laboratory work, emergency room services, x-rays and most outpatient surgeries are not covered under your doctor’s office co-pay. There are usually separate co-pays for these services, if they are even covered at all. With some limited benefit family health insurance policies, you are on your own some for these expenses. Make sure you know what services are covered, and what the annual or lifetime maximum benefit of each benefit is.
Your deductible is per family member per year. So, everything that is not covered by the co-pay, you will pay out-of-pocket until you meet your deductible. Common deductible amounts are $1000 to $5,000; however, they can run as high as $25,000 with some plans. Then you pay your co-insurance amount, the co-insurance is generally expressed as a 90/10, 80/20, or 70/30 dollar amount. Which means you will pay somewhere in the neighborhood of 10% to 30% towards your co-insurance limit. Once you have met your coinsurance maximum, the family health insurance company will pay 100% of your covered claims, up to the annual or lifetime maximum.
Why Do I Need Family Health Insurance
If you’re like most of us, it kind of sounds like you don’t get much insurance coverage from the family health insurance companies for the amount of money you pay in premiums, but you need to keep in mind what your insurance is really intended to do for you in the first place. Health insurance is intended to protect you in the event of a catastrophic illness, from losing your entire life savings or having to filie for bankruptcy due to a severe medical condition.
Our advice to you is this, purchase a family health insurance policy that you can comfortably afford. If you and your family are in good health and rarely go to the doctor, get a little higher deductible plan with limited doctor’s office visits. If you or a member of your family is in poor health, or if you have a member of the family that goes to the doctor’s office often, get a health insurance plan with a lower deductible and unlimited doctor’s office visits.
Most of this sounds like common sense right? Well, it is. You know you need family health insurance coverage, so you might as well get something you can afford and trust.
