The ABCs of Health Insurance

Choosing the right health insurance can be a difficult and confusing endeavor. The primer below is designed to give you a basic overview of what to look for in an insurance plan.

How to Get Health insurance

If you are fortunate enough to get health insurance through your job, your out-of-pocket costs are most likely deducted from your check. Many companies offer basic coverage including emergency room costs, doctor's visits, prescriptions, x-rays, lab tests and chiropractic care. Additional health insurance is often available to cover dental, vision and long term conditions. This type of supplemental health insurance will most likely involve additional fees.

If you freelance or are a small business owner, you may need to purchase an individual health insurance policy. This can be accomplished by contacting a health insurance carrier or by contacting an insurance broker. The benefit of using an insurance broker is that a broker is not tied to any one carrier and can provide you with a variety of different rates.

However, a note of caution about choosing an individual health insurance plan-Be sure to check the rating of your company with A.M. Best, which evaluates the fiscal health of various insurance agencies. If the carrier's rating is less than A, you need to keep searching for other options.

Types of Health insurance

There are two main types of health insurance; fee for service plans and managed care. Under fee for service plans, you will need to submit a claim for each medical cost. You are then reimbursed for each covered expense.

Under managed care, certain rules and regulations apply to keep healthcare costs as low as possible. PPOs and HMOs are two types of managed care plans. With PPOs, you have the option to see any doctor within the PPO network. You may also be referred by a PPO doctor to another doctor outside the network and still receive the lower cost. However, if you decide to see a PPO doctor outside of the network without a referral, your bill may be significantly higher.