5 Things To Think About When Buying Health Insurance Plans In A Poor Economy

                                                                                         

If you are looking to purchase health insurance in today's bad economic climate then here are 5 five things which you need to look out for.

1. Will your health plan cover you both on and off the job?

Many health insurance plans contain specific exclusion clauses which eliminate your benefits for anything that could have been covered by Workers Compensation or similar laws. Now read that last sentence once again and pay close attention to the words 'could have been covered'. That's right, most self employed individuals and even some small business owners do not carry Workers Compensation on themselves.

There are specific insurance policies that provide cover on and off the job, as long as the law doesn not require you to have Workers Compensation coverage.

2. Are you writing off your health insurance premiums?

Independent contractors (1099's), home based business owners, professionals and many self employed individuals are not taking advantage of the tax laws.

Many individuals who are paying 100% of their own costs are permitted to deduct their monthly insurance premiums. This alone can reduce your net out-of-pocket costs by as much as 40%. Ask your accountant if you are eligible or check out the IRS website for more information.

3. Look carefully at any plan's internal limits

All insurance plans use some form of internal controls to determine how much the insurer will pay out for a particular service or procedure. There are two basic methods:

A. Scheduled Benefits

A lot of plans, some of which are marketed specifically to indpendent and self employed individuals, have a detailed schedule of what the insurer will pay per doctor office visit, hospital stay or even what limits are placed on payments for testing in any 24 hour period. This sort of structure is frequently seen in 'Indemnity policies'. If you are presented with one of these plans be sure to see the schedule of benefits in writing. It is very important that you understand these limits up front because once you reach them the insurer will not pay any expenses over the stated amount.

B. Usual and Customary Expenses

'Usual and Customary' refers to the rate of pay out for a doctor office visit, procedure or hospital stay which is based upon what most doctors and facilities charge for a particular service in that geographical or comparable area. 'Usual and Customary' charges also represnt the highest level of coverage on most major medical policies.


4. Do not forget that you can shop around

Because you are reading this you are probably shopping for a health policy.

Each day people shop for everything from groceries to a new house and during the shopping process value, price, personal needs and general marketplace conditions get evaluated by the buyer. With this in mind, it is very disconcerting that most people never ask how much a test, procedure or even doctor visit is going to cost. In today's constantly changing insurance market it is going to become more and more important for for people to ask these questions. Inquiring about price will help you to get the most from your policy and lower your out-of-pocket expenses.

5. Pay attention to networks and discounts

Almost all insurance companies work with medical networks to access discounted rates. In broad strokes, networks consist of medical professionals and facilities who contract to charge discounted rates for services provided. In the majority of cases the network itself is one of the defining properties of your program. Discounts can vary from 10% to 60% or even more.

Medical network discounts do vary but to make sure that you minimize your out-of-pocket expenses, it is vital that you preview the network's list of doctors and facilities before you commit yourself to a plan. This is not only to make sure that your local doctors and hospitals are part of the network, but also to see what your choices would be if you need referral to a specialist.

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