What are the factors in choosing a health insurance plan?

There are many different factors in choosing a health insurance plan. The one best suited for you or your family depends on some important considerations as noted below.

Basic Forms of Insurance: What form of health insurance do you need, comprehensive, catastrophic or limited medical?

Budget: What is the amount that you can afford to pay for health insurance without taking money away from money allocated to your primary needs such as food and housing?

Medical History: Will your medical history affect the cost of insurance or limit the types of health insurance that are available to you?

Out-of-Pocket Expenses:  How much out of pocket can you afford prior to insurance paying their share?

Frequency of Benefits Use: Which benefits will you         likely use the most?

Medical Providers: Do you have freedom of choice or are you restricted to a network of providers?

Preventative Care: Does the health insurance promote wellness such as pap smears, mammograms, prostate cancer screening or colonoscopies?

Chronic Medical Conditions: Does the insurance company accept, rate-up  or reject  chronic medical conditions such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, asthma, heart disease, or arthritis?

 


Choosing the Form of Health Insurance

There are different forms of health insurance that guard against the financial expenditures from an illness or accident but the difference is in the amount of coverage.

One form of insurance is comprehensive major medical that offers broader coverage for all medical treatment and services paid at higher benefit limits.  Dependant on your health status and other risk factors the insurance company may accept or deny you for coverage.

The cost of your health plan is directly correlated with your health condition status.  Also, consider that besides your monthly premium outlay, there are out-of-pocket expenses you will need to incur such as an annual deductible, benefit copayments and a specified percentage of the medical bills up to maximum amount. If you are able to qualify, pay, absorb the out-of-pockets expenses, and  want wide-ranging coverage-- consider a major medical health plan.

On the other hand, unlike major medical, a limited medical is not   comprehensive.The insurance benefits are tied to a fixed dollar amount and its usage to a specified allotment. Contrary to comprehensive coverage, limited medical pays its benefits upfront. In other words, there is no deductible to satisfy prior to having immediate access to the insurance benefits.

In addition, most of these limited medicals do not require a health assessment or underwriting and are made available to members of an association or employer groups.   If you are simply seeking access to a healthcare alternative with guarantee acceptance consider Intelicare Health membership features.