Health Insurance Priority

Health Insurance Is Often A Priority

Most people understand the importance of having health insurance, especially if they have children.  Because your health is important and makes a difference in every aspect of your life, it is a good idea to know more about it.  When a person is young and healthy, he or she may not think very much about the possibility of getting injured or being ill. However, when an accident occurs or a surgery becomes necessary, insurance that helps to pay your medical bills is very much in the front of your mind.

Health care expenses seem to rise every year.  Office visits, laboratory work, therapy, and surgeries seem to be on the rise.  If something were to happen to you that required hospitalization or even surgery, you would quickly see that it is extremely expensive.  One of the benefits of health insurance is that the insurance companies negotiate an upper limit for charges by doctors and hospitals.  This means that if you have insurance you won’t have to pay more than the allowable amount for that service, even if the doctor or hospital charges more than the limit to people who are not insured.

There are two very basic categories that health insurance fits into, group and individual insurance.  Group health insurance usually is offered by an employer to his or her employees.  This insurance coverage may be offered through a variety of carriers and you will often have multiple policies and coverage types to choose from.  There is often an open enrollment period during which if more than one option is offered, an employee can make changes to his or her policy, and that is usually only offered at the time that an employee begins work and becomes eligible for this benefit, or at a specified time of year for continuing employees.

Group coverage will usually cover the individual employee and there are frequently options to cover one’s spouse and children as well.  Different premiums are charged for the different group plans that are offered, and the premium is often deducted directly from an employee’s paycheck.  In many cases, a dental care plan and a vision care plan may be optional add-ons to the health insurance policy.

When a person is not eligible for group coverage or is self-employed, individual coverage is an option.  This is usually more expensive than group coverage.  One of the things that you quickly find out when you are looking for individual health coverage is that there are many medical conditions that your insurance will not cover.  With group coverage, some of these conditions are covered, even when an individual policy does not cover them.

It really pays to shop around when you are looking at different health insurance policies.  You will find that in a way similar to auto insurance, these premiums are usually lower when you agree to pay a higher deductible or out of pocket amount.  For instance, a policy where the insurance doesn’t kick in for most things until you have paid $5000 for your health care will have a lower premium than a policy that starts paying for most things when you have only paid out $500.

The world of health insurance policies can seem very confusing and even frustrating.  This is why it can really help to contact an insurance agent, whether it is a person in your personnel office at work or an agent who works with individual policies.  Speaking with an agent will help you to understand basic differences between the plans that are being offered so that you will be able to make an informed decision.

Although medical insurance can be expensive, the alternative, paying for all  your medical expenses out of pocket, is usually much more expensive.  Finding a policy that meets your needs and fits within your budget is a priority for many people.