Health insurance is a must-have in the event you have a serious medical emergency. You never know when disaster will strike in the form of illness, accident or injury. If you aren’t prepared with a good health insurance plan, you could stand to lose everything. If you have a good health plan in place, you can rest easy that your expenses will be taken care of. You have a couple of choices when it comes to purchasing health insurance. You can go with an individual plan, or if your employer offers group insurance, you can save money by choosing that plan.
When you think about registering for medical coverage through your employer, keep in mind your personal health status and that of your immediate family. You might be drawn to buy insurance with a lower premium if none of you have any health issues. While that may be cheaper upfront, it could be risky if problems start developing.
You can get catastrophic insurance instead of comprehensive to save cash. Catastrophic coverage does not pay for prescriptions, checkups, and so on, but only for emergency care or hospitalization.
Extra Information
When your health insurer telephones you during the insurance application process, do not volunteer any extra information. Answer only their direct questions. Giving extra information gives them more reasons to raise your rates or deny coverage.
Look into different health plans, and decide on the one that best fits your needs. Select between a HMO, POS and PPO company. They all have different options that you should look into and consider before buying from any company. Make sure that you have the option to keep the doctor that you currently use.
Health Insurance
It’s important that you understand your spouse’s insurance situation and options before you take out a health insurance policy for your spouse. If your spouse has access to health insurance through an employer, the company you’re dealing with may hit you with a surcharge. It may be less expensive for each of you to get coverage through your own workplaces, so do the calculations to find out which is best.
If you are relatively healthy and do not visit the doctor often, start an HSA (Health Savings Account). All the money that is saved from paying deductibles and premiums can be added to this account and you can use this for medical expenses when they come up.
It is cheaper to be on a group plan when you have insurance. Your rate will be lower if you are in a plan at work rather than an individual plan on your own. If you are not currently employed, you could still get cheaper health insurance buy joining a trade organization which offers its members group health insurance plans.
Read your bills when they arrive. Even with an insurance plan, you might find yourself having to pay expensive bills, especially if you have to buy prescription medication. Some physicians just write out prescriptions without taking into account the generic version related to the medication. Don’t be afraid to shop around. A generic medication can vary in price from pharmacy to pharmacy.
When comparing individual and group life insurance, you will probably find that group is cheaper, but you will get more choices with an individual policy. In either case, the important thing to keep in mind is that you should have at least some form of health insurance. Going through life without health insurance is asking for trouble. An unforeseen event that could yield you penniless could happen at any time. Don’t put it off any longer; determine what kind of health insurance you need right now.
