Health insurance is something that's important to us, because it provides coverage for the unknown. We never know when we have to go to a health care provider for symptoms related to sickness or injury. We also know how financially devastating it would be if health insurance wasn't available to us. Medical costs are expensive with health insurance, so we can imagine how much more it would cost if we didn't have it. So the question is, if you have health insurance are really covered?
Within each health plan, there are things that our health insurance will cover, and there are things it will not. Most people are not really familiar with their health plans to the degree necessary. As long as the co-pay is $20 most people are satisfied, and that's a mistake. Because of the rising cost of health care, most employers offer their employees High Deductible Health Plans also called HDHP. Do you know if you are involved in a HDHP?
High Deductible Health Plans are plans that provide standard coverage, however, the deductible is higher in cost for the employee to pay. What is a deductible? According to the definition, the deductible is the expenses that must be paid out of pocket before an insurer will pay any expenses. Just like car insurance, there is a certain amount you must pay before the insurer will pay their percentage. Most people do not know what their deductibles are for each category and that's a scary thought. Your insurer may tell you what your total deductible may be, however, you should do more research. Know how much of a deductible you need to pay for certain situations. For example, if you are admitted to the emergency room and have to go into surgery, how much is that going to cost you? Once you're out of surgery and you have to do rehab, how much is that going to cost you? Once you're done with rehab, do you have to go for physical therapy? Will you have to miss work for a short time because of the sickness or injury? Do you have short term disability? If so, when will it pay? These are questions people don't think about when it comes to their insurance.
No matter how good of an insurance plan you THINK you have, these are things you need to know. It doesn't matter if your employer will pay 100% of you're major medical, there are still gaps in your coverage that you're not aware.
My Thoughts:
Recently, I've been in conversations with a number of people about health insurance. It should be noted as a profession, I work for a major supplemental insurance company, so I have some incite to this subject. It also compelled me to educate the public about this unknown information. The next blog will be about how to cover the gaps in your health insurance. I hope you find this blog helpful, and you start to ask questions.
