What to Look at When Buying Health Insurance
There are many health insurance companies and many different types of insurance coverage.
Many will offer all kinds of things which in some cases we do not understand finding ourselves paying for services we did not want or we did not need.
You will find here a brief explanation of certain terms and conditions that may help you understand better what it is you are buying so that down the line you do not find yourself holding the tiger by the tail.
Health insurance simply means that you are protecting yourself against having to pay for medical services, this may include surgery, regular medical checkups, injury, emergency care and hospitalization, to mention a few of them.
A health insurance policy or health insurance coverage is a contract between you and the company you have chosen, as such there are terms and conditions that you have to understand and comply with to get the coverage you are paying for.
Health insurance contracts or policies are renewable and usually you are able to cancel them without obligation at any time if you are not satisfied with their service or if simply you do not want it anymore.
But you must always read and understand the complete document before you sign it, penalty charges may have to be paid to cancel a health insurance policy.
To purchase a health insurance policy it is necessary for you to pay a premium, this is a certain amount of money which depends on the coverage you want.
The premium is paid when you sign the contract and it makes your policy effective immediately.
After this, you will pay a monthly or yearly amount that will guarantee your coverage, again, the amount you pay every month will depend on the coverage you have contracted.
Now, this is not necessarily the only amount you will have to pay for medical services, there may be other expenses down the line that will come out of your pocket.
This is why it is so important for you to read all the documents thoroughly and understand them.
Insurance companies will not cover your medical bills completely, and many times they will want you to pay for the services you receive promising that they will reimburse your expenses within a month or something like that.
Even then you do not get 100% of the money spent back.
Take a good look at the policy you want to buy and find the paragraph where the "deductible" is mentioned, this is the percentage of the bill you will pay.
Usually the company pays for 80% of the bill and you pay for the remaining 20%, this is standard, so make sure this is what you are getting.
Any split higher than this is too much and must be rejected immediately.
Now look for the "co-payment" amount or percentage, this has to do with specific types of medical attention where you have to pay part of the expenses, an example of this may be cosmetic surgery.
Usually co-payment does not apply to emergency treatment or surgery or regular checkups and care, but again, all companies are different so make sure you do not have to pay a percentage of the bill for every medical service and care you receive.
"Coverage limit" is related to the maximum amount the insurance company is willing to pay for your medical treatment, when this amount is spent, you will have to pay for the rest.
Make sure this amount is high and that there are no age restrictions with regards to coverage.
The coverage limit does not apply to specific services, it applies to the total amount the insurance company is willing to pay for the duration of the policy.
Many people have found themselves needing extensive and expensive medical care down the line and all of a sudden the insurance company sends them a note informing them that their coverage limit has been reached and they will pay no more.
On the other hand you have the "out of pocket maxima", this is the maximum amount that you have to pay, the rest will be paid by them.
Here is where the horse trading begins, you have to negotiate and try to keep your coverage limit up and your out of pocket maxima down, this is very important to achieve especially because you want to be prepared in case down the line you need long or permanent medical care.
Insurance companies work to make money and that fact is that if you are a healthy person you may be paying for their services for a long time without using them.
This is not important because no one knows when an accident or a disease will happen and you must be financially ready to face the music.
Health insurance is the only way to do it.
Many will offer all kinds of things which in some cases we do not understand finding ourselves paying for services we did not want or we did not need.
You will find here a brief explanation of certain terms and conditions that may help you understand better what it is you are buying so that down the line you do not find yourself holding the tiger by the tail.
Health insurance simply means that you are protecting yourself against having to pay for medical services, this may include surgery, regular medical checkups, injury, emergency care and hospitalization, to mention a few of them.
A health insurance policy or health insurance coverage is a contract between you and the company you have chosen, as such there are terms and conditions that you have to understand and comply with to get the coverage you are paying for.
Health insurance contracts or policies are renewable and usually you are able to cancel them without obligation at any time if you are not satisfied with their service or if simply you do not want it anymore.
But you must always read and understand the complete document before you sign it, penalty charges may have to be paid to cancel a health insurance policy.
To purchase a health insurance policy it is necessary for you to pay a premium, this is a certain amount of money which depends on the coverage you want.
The premium is paid when you sign the contract and it makes your policy effective immediately.
After this, you will pay a monthly or yearly amount that will guarantee your coverage, again, the amount you pay every month will depend on the coverage you have contracted.
Now, this is not necessarily the only amount you will have to pay for medical services, there may be other expenses down the line that will come out of your pocket.
This is why it is so important for you to read all the documents thoroughly and understand them.
Insurance companies will not cover your medical bills completely, and many times they will want you to pay for the services you receive promising that they will reimburse your expenses within a month or something like that.
Even then you do not get 100% of the money spent back.
Take a good look at the policy you want to buy and find the paragraph where the "deductible" is mentioned, this is the percentage of the bill you will pay.
Usually the company pays for 80% of the bill and you pay for the remaining 20%, this is standard, so make sure this is what you are getting.
Any split higher than this is too much and must be rejected immediately.
Now look for the "co-payment" amount or percentage, this has to do with specific types of medical attention where you have to pay part of the expenses, an example of this may be cosmetic surgery.
Usually co-payment does not apply to emergency treatment or surgery or regular checkups and care, but again, all companies are different so make sure you do not have to pay a percentage of the bill for every medical service and care you receive.
"Coverage limit" is related to the maximum amount the insurance company is willing to pay for your medical treatment, when this amount is spent, you will have to pay for the rest.
Make sure this amount is high and that there are no age restrictions with regards to coverage.
The coverage limit does not apply to specific services, it applies to the total amount the insurance company is willing to pay for the duration of the policy.
Many people have found themselves needing extensive and expensive medical care down the line and all of a sudden the insurance company sends them a note informing them that their coverage limit has been reached and they will pay no more.
On the other hand you have the "out of pocket maxima", this is the maximum amount that you have to pay, the rest will be paid by them.
Here is where the horse trading begins, you have to negotiate and try to keep your coverage limit up and your out of pocket maxima down, this is very important to achieve especially because you want to be prepared in case down the line you need long or permanent medical care.
Insurance companies work to make money and that fact is that if you are a healthy person you may be paying for their services for a long time without using them.
This is not important because no one knows when an accident or a disease will happen and you must be financially ready to face the music.
Health insurance is the only way to do it.
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