Four Types of Medical Insurance That Everyone Should Know

Shopping for a medical insurance is no longer a luxury; a medical insurance is considered by many as a need. Everyone sees the health insurance as their protection and their safety net in case something happens to them in the foreseeable future and a medical emergency may cost them all of their savings. This is the reason why health insurance will always be a hot topic in any health policy discussions and a silent topic for many families who are contemplating about their life, their health and their future.

Though it may seem that insurance should be present for any individual or the family, it is not suggested for a person to get the first insurance contract offered at the table. There should be some form of research and deliberations involved so that the perfect match can be sourced.

There are a number of things to consider and the cost and the coverage are just two of the considerations that should be taken into mind by the interested family or person who may want to have his safety net and protection. And speaking of coverage, the coverage is the main difference that differentiates one type of medical insurance from the other. There are four general types of health insurance according to its promised coverage. The list includes the indemnity insurance, the HMO or the health maintenance organization, the PPO or the preferred provider organization and the POS or the point of service-type of health insurance. Almost every major health insurance plan provider will have any of these plans like Blue Cross, and it is imperative that the interested person should know the differences to get the best match.

The following will be a discussion of the different health insurance plan:

•    The indemnity insurance or the fee-for-service. This is the most common plan taken by most people. This kind of plan will pay for almost health-related costs though it will not pay for preventive care. Physical exams that a person can take are not covered in this plan and the person will have to pay for that separately. It should be remembered too that in this kind of health insurance plan, total cost is not covered. The coverage will be a certain portion of the billed amount.

•    The health maintenance organization.  This is provided by the major health insurance plan providers like Blue Cross. This type of insurance covers for almost all the health care needs of the patient- from checkups to hospitalization. But there will be a minimal co-payment that will start at low $5 to as high as $40.

•    The preferred provider organization. The insurance provider will provide the consumer with the ‘preferred providers’ and the consumer will pay a minimal fee once he visits any on the list. The person will be given the chance to select the doctor but he should be prepared to pay out for the bulk of the cost.

•    The point of service. The person will have two choices here- to use the plan the way HMO is used or you can use this as an indemnity plan.

Knowing these things make shopping for a health insurance plan both easy and convenient. At least when a person contacts his chosen provider say Blue Cross, he can save on time and immediately take the plan that suits his needs.