Health Insurance Comparisons
1)Uninsured. This is where an individual has no insurance. It is estimated at least 15% of Americans fall into this category.
2) Managed Care Plans. Managed Care Plans fall into three categories. All are essentially networks to provide contracted services by specific providers at contracted prices:
i) Health Maintenance Organizations (HMO) are prepaid plans in which members pay a fixed monthly fee, regardless of how much medical care is needed in a given month. HMOs usually insist that you stay within the network when you need services from physicians and hospitals and the amount you have to pay is little to nothing for your’ care.
ii) Preferred Provider Organizations (PPO) are groups of doctors and hospitals that provide medical service to members at a pre negotiated fee. PPO members receive a higher co-insurance benefit if they go in network typically pay a higher out of pocket if they go out of network.
iii) Exclusive Provider Organization (EPO) and Point of Service (POS) are hybrid plans of PPO and HMOs. These plans are not very common.
3) Indemnity Plans enable participants to seek health care whenever they need. Participants can visit any doctor or specialist, as often as they feel necessary. There are no restrictions when it comes to seeking medical help, but this is by far the most expensive type of health insurance plan.
Which of these types of health insurance is right for you will depend on your personal situation. Choosing health insurance coverage is a time-consuming task and it can certainly be frustrating, but it’s something that everybody needs to consider sooner rather than later.
