There are four types of health insurance plans available to choose from: Fee-for-service plans, Health Maintenance Organizations, Preferred provider organizations and Point-of-service plans. You need to select the best plan that will suit your needs and your budget when you choose a health insurance plan for your family. Various different options exist from which you can choose, depending on the type of health insurance plan you select.
In the nineteen thirties, Blue Cross was the first company to offer pre-paid hospitalization. Due to the rise in cost of health care which happened as a result of medical advances, loss of earnings due to sickness made health insurance essential.
The most popular plan is a fee-for-service plan whereby medical costs are paid for by the insurance company. You can visit any doctors or hospitals. The policyholder pays a deductible before insurance payments resume. Unfortunately not all types of expenses are covered by this type of insurance. A claim form will have to be completed by yourself or by the doctor’s offices and sent to the insurer. As a policyholder it is your responsibility to keep a record of all medical expenses and remain below the ceiling of the plan. These plans offer basic and major insurance.
Health maintenance organizations offer prepaid health care plans. This is similar to the fee-for-service plan in that it offers comprehensive care for all types of medical expenses, including emergency care, tests, therapy, hospitalization and x-rays. HMOs arrange for medical care from the service providers in its own group or contracted health care providers, which limits your choices. For medical emergencies and if a specific professional is not contracted to the HMO, exceptions are made. You may need to make a small co-payment towards each medical expense, but it is still more predictable than with some of the other insurance types. Another nice thing about HMOs is that you don’t need to fill out claim forms, instead you have a medical insurance card which pulls up all the related information.
HMOs offer insurance that is indemnity-like and are referred to as Point-of Service plans. You will be referred by a primary health care provider to others within the same group. The largest portion of the bill will be covered by your insurance company as long as you visit doctors that are part of the HMO.
The preferred provider organizations combine the benefits of fee-for-service plans and HMO plans. The plan offers services of a group of specific health care providers and most of the costs are covered by the plan. You also receive a membership card and need to pay a small fee when you visit a doctor or other health care provider. Preventative health care is paid for on these plans. If the health care provider you visit is not part of the network, you may have to pay the bulk of the cost and fill out a claims form.
Different types of health insurance plans are available. You need to weigh up the different options to see which plan would suit your family’s requirements the best.
Locate your Health insurance plans by looking online. Several choices of health insurance plan choices are out there to look at. Go online today and find out more.
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