Buying individual plans: now a more lucrative option

Aug 13
08:18

2010

sammy smith

sammy smith

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Considering the high premiums, buying an individual health insurance has never been a choice for anybody. It has always been a compulsion. Residents who are not covered by their employers or are self-employed or their family’s coverage do not include them have no other option but to go for individual plans.

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But here is some good news to cheer them up. Individual plans are not as bad they are thought to be. And neither is group medical insurance as rosy as it appears.

Group medical plans were always the cheapest way to get insurance. The premiums were low and there were a lot of additional benefits attached. But these days,Buying individual plans: now a more lucrative option Articles in order to cut down on costs, companies provide only a basic plan as a part of the group insurance. Group plans often cover only a very limited number of diseases. Most of the benefits have been chipped off and these group plan work best only as a supplementary policy. There has also been in a rise in the share of the premium that the employee is expected to pay. In many companies now have to pay about 100% of the dependant’s premium.

Higher premiums and fewer benefits as compared to earlier have lured the beneficiaries away and got them interested in buying individual health plan. The biggest advantage of purchasing an individual medical policy is that it can be personalised according the medical needs of the beneficiary. They may come at the a slightly dearer price, but they cover all your personal medical needs.

Personalising can make individual plans costlier but it is also the easiest way to bring down the premium on an individual plan. More the health services, more the cost. Hence, excluding certain benefits that one is certain not to use, like maternity or abortion care can bring down the expenses on premiums.

The Affordability Act has also made buying individual plans more lucrative. Those purchasing such medical policies will be eligible for tax credits. Individual plans now come with a bouquet of benefits such as prevention and wellness benefits, recommended vaccinations and access to the state Exchange. There will be a cap on the out-of-pocket expenses and premiums are most likely to go down after the health reforms are enforced.

Not just the reforms there are other ways to bring down the premium as well on individual plans. Going for a higher deductible plan is one of them. Higher deductible means lower premiums. Thus if your health plan is only a safety net, then you can afford to take this risk. Similarly, going in for a separate prescription discount, rather than including it in the medical plan will turn out to be much cheaper.

Managed health care are the cheapest way of purchasing medical plans. So, depending on the budget and the health needs, one can go for HMOs, PPOs or PoS plans. These plans vary from each other in terms of price and coverage but are generally much cheaper than other individual plans.

Buying individual plan, traditionally, was never the initial choice for anybody. But with so many advantages coming its way, the scales seem to be weighing in its favour.