Whether you’re looking for health insurance for yourself or for a group of people like your family or your employees, there’s a broad range of health insurance types that you can go for in these situations. That said, researching your health insurance options is helpful once you’re ready to enroll in a new plan.
This is because the more familiar you are with the different types of health insurance, the better the coverage you’ll have in your insurance, which means you’ll be picking the best deal possible with your specific parameters. Luckily for you, in today’s article, we will briefly overview the plans you might encounter in your research about the types of health insurance. Let’s start.
Preferred Provider Organization Plan
The preferred provider organization or PPO is perhaps one of the market’s most common types of insurance. However, this one is for employees, so if you’re an employer looking for health insurance for your workers, then a PPO is suitable for your needs. In addition, with a PPO plan, your employees will be encouraged to use a network of hospitals and doctors to negotiate for a lower rate.
Your employees can choose whichever doctor or hospital they want with their plan. Also, they can choose to meet with a specialist without a very convenient referral. Perhaps the only setback of this plan is that it charges more than the usual premium cost compared to the other plans on this list.
Health Maintenance Organization Plan
The health maintenance organization plan, or HMO, is a plan that offers a wide range of healthcare services from a network of providers that have a contract with the HMO. Unlike PPOs, HMOs usually require you to select a primary care doctor as part of the plans, and they would also be required for a referral if they want to go to a specialist.
However, HMOs have a broader range of preventive care than other plans. Also, employees are not required to pay a deductible before their coverage starts but they can choose to do so, and usually, they can enjoy copayment for medical bills and medicine. On the other hand, one disadvantage of this plan is that it doesn’t cover employees outside of the preferred network unless their primary care doctor referred them or in emergencies.
Indemnity Plan
If you’re looking for health insurance, this one might interest you. With an indemnity plan, the insurance company will pay a predetermined percentage within a specific geographic area for a given service, and the insured will pay the rest. There’s no preferred network in this plan, so you can choose whichever doctor or hospital you want to go to as long as it’s within the stated geographic area.
However, the fees are determined by the provider and will vary from doctor to doctor, which means the insured has the potential to be on the hook for huge and unexpected medical bills, which of course, depends on the service.
Also, they can be quite expensive than the regular monthly premium a standard health policy would have, but it depends on the benefits you want to be included and the area you live in. But with that said, if you want to choose your doctor and hospital and not be required to have a referral to see a specialist, then an indemnity plan might be a good fit for you.
Health Savings Account
A health savings account or an HSA is an account used alongside another HSA-compatible high deductible health plan or HDHP to pay for qualified medical expenses. Although HSAs can be offered group health insurance coverage, employers can still contribute to the policy, even if the policy is not offered as a group policy.
However, an employer can only contribute an HDHP for their employees either through an HSA and HRA, which means low-deductible insurance plans like short term limited duration insurance are not applicable.
HSA contributions can be made pre-tax, with specific limits set yearly by the IRS. Any unused funds in the HSA will be rolled over each year to the next, accrue interest, and be tax-free. Probably the best thing about this plan is that your employees can withdraw funds from the account, although they will be charged a fee and interest if they are not over 65 years of age.
To conclude, if you have an HDHP and you want to contribute, an HSA would be a good fit for you. However, there are setbacks, of course, like paying deductibles, and the money should only be spent on medical expenses. Taking it out for another reason will incur another penalty.
Final Words
If you’re looking for health insurance for your employees or yourself, these plans discussed above are great options. But of course, they have pros and cons, so pick carefully. That said, all in all, they have strengths that are very beneficial depending on the situation.
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