subject: Do You Need A Family Medical Plan [print this page] It can be trying to find a good private medical plan for yourself and your family. If your job already offers a real group major medical plan, this is probably a good solution. Many companies offer full and comprehensive benefits. Most companies also offer to pay part of the premium for your medical plan. If you are like millions of Americans that do not get group medical benefits, you will have to start shopping on the private market. Consider some tips that may help you find good health insurance.
Most families want affordable health insurance that will help them access good medical care. You might need to ponder the features and benefits of various medical plans. You will have to decide which ones you actually need. If you were used to getting group medical benefits, where your company picked up a substantial portion of the tab, you may be surprised by how much some of these plans can cost. If you really need to reduce your premiums, you might have to buy a health policy that only provides very essential coverage. You could be forced to lower your expectations a little.
Of course, you should also study various kinds of health plans that you can buy. Some use a network in order to control costs for their plan members and the insurance companies. Network health plans do impose more rules on medical providers and consumers. They also use these rules to control costs. If you can find a good network, you may be able to give up some freedom of choice for affordable medical care.
Some network plans are actually less restrictive. They give you the highest coverage levels if you stay inside the network. You may be able to leave the plan, with some network policies, if you understand that coverage levels will be lower. If unusual needs arise, you may be happy that you reserved your freedom of choice. Other network plans are so restrictive that they rarely cover non-network providers. These very restrictive insurance policies might be the best way to reduce costs. They may also force you to adhere to many rules and guidelines.
Of course, some health insurance plans do not have any networks. You may prefer to be able to visit any doctor or hospital you choose. However, you still need to be sure that the health care providers accept your insurance, and that it provides enough coverage to really help you afford good medical care when you need it.
It is not that easy to make good health insurance choices these days. Be very certain that you do your research. Consider all of the positives and negatives of your various options.
by: Marilyn Katz
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