Basic Health Insurance Issues

You should always have health insurance if at all possible. That being said, there are some basic issues you consider and understand before buying it. Perhaps the most common question I hear is, “what is the best plan for me?” The simple fact is there is no best plan for every situation. The best choice for you is dependent upon your health, family situation, income and so on. It is also important to understand that plans differ in how much you pay in premiums and how easy it is to get the services you need. No plan is going to pay for your entire medical care, but some will definitely pay more of the cost than others. The basic approach requires you to pay a premium for coverage, a deductible and co-payments on each visit to a medical professional

The most common health care plan is through an HMO. The term refers to a Health Maintenance Organization. As a member of the HMO, you select a primary physician from an approved list of medical care providers. You then visit that person for all of your medical needs. If you need something beyond this person, they will make referrals to the specific specialist. If you go to another doctor first or outside of the approved list of care providers, you may be stuck paying the entire bill. The one exception to this is emergency care, which the HMO will cover. A PPO is a step up from an HMO is service and cost. The term refers to a Preferred Provider Organization. The primary difference is you can go to a specialist without getting a referral from a primary doctor. Depending on the plan, you can also get some coverage for care from a doctor outside the approved list of medical providers. With this flexibility, of course, comes a higher cost and deductible. A fairly new health care solution on the market is the medical IRA. Known more formally as a Health Savings Account, this is a savings account with a tax advantage. The idea is you save money each year in an account to pay for your real health care costs. The money is contributed pre-tax, which is nice. You then use the money as need. You also acquire a “catastrophic” insurance policy to cover any situation where you incur massive medical bills such as during an extended hospital stay. Obviously, this is a basic introduction to health care cover issues. There are kinds of hybrid plans out there and different ways of approach the issue. That being said, the above represents the nuts and bolts of health coverage and the most commonly used strategies.