Shopping for family health insurance can be tricky because each person will need different types of care. Kids will need a very different type of care than adults need and they will need a lot more of it. If you’re getting ready to shop for family health insurance here are 5 things you should know before you start shopping:
1. There are two kinds of health insurance for families. You can choose from group or individual coverage for families. If you have someone in your family that has a serious medical condition and you choose group insurance your rates could go sky high, so consider carefully which type of insurance is the right kind for your family.
2. Learn as much as you can about the different types of insurance plans for families. There are 4 main types of insurance plans for families: HMOs, PPOs, POS’, and HSAs. With that many options you should have no trouble finding one that is a good fit for your family but make sure that you study all the options before you pick one so that you know you’ll be getting high quality family health insurance at a price you can afford.
3. Consider the price of the co-pay – The co-pay that you choose can have a huge impact on the cost of your annual premium. So while an adult might be able to handle high co-pays on routine doctor visits once or twice a year to keep annual premiums low a child will need to see a pediatrician regularly and having a high co-pay might make regular visits too expensive. When you are choosing a family health insurance plan make sure you think about how often each member of the family will need to see a doctor when you’re choosing a co-pay.
4. Talk to an insurance specialist – If you have a lot of children of different ages. If you have a child that has a medical condition that makes it too expensive to get insurance for the whole family talk to an insurance specialist before you buy family health insurance to find out what your options are and what the most affordable family health insurance is for your family.
5. Ask your family and friends what insurance plans they use – Other parents that you trust are always a great source of information. When you have questions related to your kids or taking care of your kids. Ask your family and friends what family health insurance plan they have and whether or not they are happy with it. Recommendations from family and friends are a great way to find family health insurance and can result in savings for both of you if the company offers a referral rewards program.
Friday, September 26, 2008
5 Tips for Choosing Health Insurance Plans
When it comes to choosing health insurance plans most people would rather do just about anything than sort through the thousands of options available and try to figure out which health care plans offer affordable but thorough coverage. But if you’re willing to spend a little time and effort clarifying what you need from a health insurance plan and searching for low priced options you can save a lot of money on medical insurance plans. Here are 5 tips to help you choose from the thousands of health insurance plans that are out there:
1. Look locally – Even though companies all over the country can insure you where that company’s main office is located can impact the price of the coverage that they offer. Your best bet when it comes to finding local health insurance, which can be a lot cheaper, is to look on your state’s website. The state website should have an entire section devoted to insurance which will help you find a local, affordable health insurance plan.
2. Decide exactly how much coverage you need – Picking and choosing your coverage can make a big difference when it comes to price. If you really want to keep costs down then just get insurance to cover major illnesses, accidents, or other serious problems and pay for your routine visits and lab tests out of pocket. That will end up costing more at the time of the service but overall will cost you less.
3. Use an insurance broker –Just like using an insurance broker to compare many different auto insurance plans can save you a lot of money on your car insurance using an insurance broker to compare health insurance plans can save you a lot of money on your health insurance. If you are confused about health insurance plans and aren’t sure how to pick the right one for your then go through a broker to make sure that you get a good deal on the coverage you need.
4. Consider starting a Health Savings Account – If regular health insurance plans seem too expensive or if your are generally very healthy and just want to protect yourself in case of an emergency then you should think about starting a Health Savings Account instead of buying insurance. A Health Savings Account is money put aside specifically for health related problems. Many banks offer special interest rates and other perks for these types of accounts. Putting even a couple of hundred dollars in a Health Savings Account regularly can give you all the money you need to feel protected if you were to have a health emergency.
5. Ask for a free trial period – Many insurance companies will let you try out a health insurance plan for free but if your plan doesn’t offer a free trial ask for one. Most likely the free trial won’t be really free, you will still have to pay up front but if you don’t like the plan you can cancel it and get your money back. This is a good way to see how much coverage you really have and if you like the doctors that are approved by that particular company.
1. Look locally – Even though companies all over the country can insure you where that company’s main office is located can impact the price of the coverage that they offer. Your best bet when it comes to finding local health insurance, which can be a lot cheaper, is to look on your state’s website. The state website should have an entire section devoted to insurance which will help you find a local, affordable health insurance plan.
2. Decide exactly how much coverage you need – Picking and choosing your coverage can make a big difference when it comes to price. If you really want to keep costs down then just get insurance to cover major illnesses, accidents, or other serious problems and pay for your routine visits and lab tests out of pocket. That will end up costing more at the time of the service but overall will cost you less.
3. Use an insurance broker –Just like using an insurance broker to compare many different auto insurance plans can save you a lot of money on your car insurance using an insurance broker to compare health insurance plans can save you a lot of money on your health insurance. If you are confused about health insurance plans and aren’t sure how to pick the right one for your then go through a broker to make sure that you get a good deal on the coverage you need.
4. Consider starting a Health Savings Account – If regular health insurance plans seem too expensive or if your are generally very healthy and just want to protect yourself in case of an emergency then you should think about starting a Health Savings Account instead of buying insurance. A Health Savings Account is money put aside specifically for health related problems. Many banks offer special interest rates and other perks for these types of accounts. Putting even a couple of hundred dollars in a Health Savings Account regularly can give you all the money you need to feel protected if you were to have a health emergency.
5. Ask for a free trial period – Many insurance companies will let you try out a health insurance plan for free but if your plan doesn’t offer a free trial ask for one. Most likely the free trial won’t be really free, you will still have to pay up front but if you don’t like the plan you can cancel it and get your money back. This is a good way to see how much coverage you really have and if you like the doctors that are approved by that particular company.
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