subject: Do You Get Better Health Insurance From Your Employer Or That You Can Buy Yourself? [print this page] Many people are confused about their health insurance benefits and are wondering if it is time to change from an employer based health insurance plan to a private pay one. Many are considering this change due to the increase in their health insurance premiums and the increases in the amounts of their co pays and deductibles.
At first it may seem that you can save some money when you make a switch such as this but the only people who may benefit from this type of switch are usually those who are significantly ill and in most cases those who have serious illnesses don't use a private pay plan to replace their employer based health insurance but very simply to supplement it. There are very few private pay plans that wind up costing you less than an employer based plan.
The benefits of employer based coverage usually well exceed anything that can be offered through a private pay plan for the most part because individual plans are based solely on an individuals risk while a group, employer based health insurance plan is a pool which helps to reduce the insurance company's risk and helps to save you money. Additional money is usually saved on an employer based plan by the fact that your employer usually contributes significantly to the plan as well helping to limit the employee's out of pocket expense.
A lot of people don't like the limits that they have to deal with when it comes to employer based coverage. Most employers use either HMO or PPO plans because they are the most cost effective. This does mean though that you have to work within all of their limitations and go by the rules for seeing doctors. There is a lot available in these plans it is simply annoying for people to have to deal with jumping through the hoops that they must.
It is always better to shop around for anything that is as costly as health insurance. What you will likely find out though is that whatever your company is offering will probably be cheaper. Some people do need more in terms of coverage than what is available from employers. If that is the case then it is simple to get some supplemental coverage instead of going full on with a private carrier.
by: Ethan Kalvin
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