Grading a Health Insurance Policy

You have finally are able to search around for the health insurance policy you want. There are so many options! You need to figure out a method to help you judge and grade each program to find out what you want. The stricter you judge each policy the better the policy you will find. Here are some things you need to look for when looking over each policy:

See If Health Insurance Passes the Test

• Why are you buying insurance?

This is important to ask yourself. Are you getting it for yourself or for your children? When you ask yourself this you will come up with some important answers. The answers these questions should be used to help you find the right plan.

• Ok, so what plan are you getting?

Is it an HMO, PPO or traditional insurance? This is important to know because each plan has different aspects. One has co-pays and the other might be all covered by your employer. Even if you think you know what is coming, still check! These days it is getting harder and harder to tell these things apart. All insurance plans may seem similar, so make sure you know the difference between the plans.

• What are all the payments?

Sure you need to know what the premium is, but the premium is only half of the battle! How much are you paying monthly? What are you going to pay for medication? Other factors might outweigh what you are paying for the premium. A low premium should not be the sole factor in your decision making process. Look at all the payments, and then you can come to a sound conclusion.

Be Difficult on the Policy

Some plans may look cute and helpful but are they really? Even if a plan looks good you still to need to make sure everything is ok on the back end. Look at all the options and play through every scenario. The more you know the less likely something will sneak up on you. Insurance is so important and you cannot relax on this, you need to make the right decisions.

Additional Resources:

• Health Insurance Costs Outpace Wage Increases

• Insurance Costs ‘Incalculable’