There Are Many Options When It Comes To Health Insurance

There are few decisions you will ever make that make an impact on yourself or your entire family than the decision you make that regards your health insurance. You can gamble on the ponies, on football, or anything else, sometimes legally, but you can never gamble on health insurance when it comes to the well being of you and your family. There are so many different types of health care that are available, but picking the right one out of the many that are available is vital. You have to be patient when working your way through the myriads of paperwork that you need to go through to determine the best insurance for you and your family. You can choose among HMOs (Health maintenance organizations), a PPO (preferred provider organization), Managed Care, POS (point of service plans), or Traditional Indemnity Plans (fee for service), but knowing the best type of insurance out of those options is the most important thing.

A clear understanding of the different plan options and what they offer is needed: Indemnity plans are the tradition health care coverage plans offered. For many years Indemnity was the only option. They allow autonomy in physician choice, you can go anywhere and see any specialist without consulting the insurance carrier or getting any approval. Emergency room visits normally must be approved prior and the deductibles can reach into the thousands.

Managed care is another option and is exactly what it says. Your options are managed by the insurance company and you have little say over who you are going to consult with when the time comes to have care taken. The doctors are always within the network that is managed by the insurance company and you have few choices. However, this option may cost a lot less than the other options.

Preferred Provider Organizations are a bit like managed care; however, rather than restrict you from seeing out of network doctors they provide financial incentives if you choose to stay within the network. Specialists can be seen within the network and without approval. Exclusive Provider Organizations are a subsection of PPO's that function a bit like HMO's in that you pay the entire cost of any out of network visits.

POS plans are a lot like the PPO plans, but you can see a specialist only with the approval of a primary care doctor who is not necessarily an exert on everything. Most things start with your primary care doctor, but remember that that doctor is typically a general physician and might not be able to provide the care that you need that can be provided by a specialist.

An HMO organization offers as a way to provide the best cost on saving, but also offers the least amount of flexibility. Co-payments are low and sometimes non-existent, but seeing doctors outside the network is forbidden. Some may see the lower costs a benefit and some may see the flexibility a positive side to going in another direction.