Cheap Medical Plans Are a Reality

Living under the belief that cheap medical plans do not provide complete coverage and hence are better avoided? Frustrated with the fact that only fancy plans can ensure a healthy future? You are living a myth and through this write-up we hope to explode some of the misconceptions you have about inexpensive health plans.

Let’s begin with the notion that cheap medical plans are of little use as they do not provide complete coverage. Not true. Not true at all. These plans are not expensive because they concentrate on providing primary healthcare, which is of course less expensive and secondly they let you pick and choose services so that you do not have to pay for healthcare that you do not need.

The whole idea behind providing health care services that are pocket friendly is that people should consult doctors at the slightest instance of falling sick. Treating a disease in its most initial stages will not prevent it from growing into a bigger problem but it is also less expensive when cured in the beginning itself.

Now coming to the second rider attached to cheap insurance- pick and choose. Pick and choose does not mean losing out on essential medical services. It only means leaving out those health services that a beneficiary is sure never to use in his life. Drug and alcohol rehabilitation services would be one such case. If a beneficiary is one who is totally against substance abuse and is sure never to get into drugs and alcohol, then why pay extra in your premium for a rehabilitation service. 

Similarly, if the personal doctor is a part of the preferred network of healthcare service providers, then why pay more for a plan that allows you to go consult outside the network for your treatment.

Managed healthcare plans such as HMOs, PPOs and PoS are the easiest way to access inexpensive health plans. These plans are cheap and yet provide complete and comprehensive coverage. Such plans focus on providing preventive healthcare and still allow for exceptions when there is a medical emergency for the beneficiary. Managed health plans provide effective and efficient medical services at the lowest possible cost.

Apart from these doctored inexpensive plans, they are ways to reduce the premium you are paying for your individual policy and convert them into economical plans. The combination of the deductible, co-pay and the premium you have opted for will decide if your health policy is a cheap plan or not. A careful permutation of the three will help you land an inexpensive medical plan. For example, if you opt for a higher deductible and lower premium plan and if you do not contract any major illness, you will be able to cheap medical plan for yourself.

Likewise if you opt for separate prescription discounts instead of including it in your health plan, the end result will be a health plan that is cost effective and yet does not compromise on healthcare services in any way.

A cheap plan is not the one that comes at the lowest price. It is one that offers you the most benefits without burning a hole in your pocket.