subject: Finding The Healthcare Insurance That Is Right For You [print this page] When it comes to the health of you and your family, every decision you make is of the utmost importance. It will be one of the most important decisions you will ever make and can mean the difference between life and death and can also either keep you financially secure or bankrupt you. It is all in your own hands when it comes to making that decision and it means spending a lot of time going through the various options that are available to you. Among the options are HMO (health maintenance organizations), PPO (Preferred provider organizations), Managed Care, POS (point of service plans), or traditional indemnity plans (fee for service). All of those have their own benefits, so doing some research to figure out which one is right for you is very important to you and your family.
Having a clear understanding of what you need is the key when it comes to choosing the best policy for you and your family. Indemnity plans are the health care that is most often offered, and for a long time, it was the only option. They allow you to make the choice in who your physician will be, so you can go anywhere and see any doctor with no extra charges and you do not have to consult with the insurance company before seeing that doctor.
That is exactly what managed care is. Everything is taken care of by your insurance company, but they also make the call on which doctors or health care providers you see. There are a lot of procedures and hoops to go through in order to be taken care of over managed care, but the costs might be a lot lower since the insurance company is making all of the calls.
Preferred Provider Organizations are a bit like managed care; however, rather than restrict you from seeing out of network doctors they provide financial incentives if you choose to stay within the network. Specialists can be seen within the network and without approval. Exclusive Provider Organizations are a subsection of PPO's that function a bit like HMO's in that you pay the entire cost of any out of network visits.
POS plans are a lot like the PPO plans, but you can see a specialist only with the approval of a primary care doctor who is not necessarily an exert on everything. Most things start with your primary care doctor, but remember that that doctor is typically a general physician and might not be able to provide the care that you need that can be provided by a specialist.
An HMO organization offers as a way to provide the best cost on saving, but also offers the least amount of flexibility. Co-payments are low and sometimes non-existent, but seeing doctors outside the network is forbidden. Some may see the lower costs a benefit and some may see the flexibility a positive side to going in another direction.
by: Ethan Kalvin
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