Health Insurance: Evaluating Choices
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When you have a choice of health insurance policies, in order to determine which is best for you:
- Get a general understanding of the types of health insurance policies which are available to you. Each type has different features.
- Check on the insurer and experience with the particular policy of most interest to you. For instance, look to see if National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) has issued a report card about the company and/or the plan: http://hprc.ncqa.org/search.asp
. Ask people at your local disease specific nonprofit service organization. If you have the insurance through work, check with the HR department and with fellow workers. (Whether to also disclose your health condition in this situation to your employer or co-workers becomes a related question). - Compare the specifics of each policy, for instance by using the Survivorship A to Z Health Plan Evaluator which helps you decide which policy is best for you given your health condition and your priorities.
- When you compare specifics, note the fine print - such as differing co-pays for different drugs. This can be particularly important on renewal of a group policy. The literature you receive may only point out the big changes, not the smaller ones that can add up a lot of dollars.
- Be sure to note such items as:
- A cap on the number of doctor visits you can make in a year.
- A cap on hospital costs, including whether the first day in a hospital is covered. In some cases, the first day is not covered. That can be the day with the most costs.
- Out-of-pocket costs including co-pays and deductibles.
(NOTE: Thanks to Health Reform 2010, health plans issued on or after September 23, 2010 cannot include a lifetime maximum.)
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