Someone once told that we become all grown up when we seriously start to think of the future and what we can expect (or not) from the rest of our lives. One of the things that every responsible person should consider in some time is health insurance.

Protecting the health of oneself and their loved ones, when the disease and other risks are not present, is a good move. We can’t always rely on luck that health issues won’t happen to us. Maybe they won’t, but it’s too late to think about it when some troubles appear. So better safe than sorry.

Frequently, we are not satisfied with the basic health insurance plan because it can’t meet all our needs. This primarily relates to the speed of getting the desired health service, refund of additional costs, the choice of a doctor or institution, and unfortunately, to inadequately provided or low-quality health care. If we opt for the health insurance policy that best meets our needs, we would have a happier, more safe and careless life.

How to Choose the Best Health Insurance Plan

As with any choice, first, you need to understand what you are looking for from a health insurance plan. Are the costs relevant to you, or is it the quality of nursing care? What savings can you have comparing to current medical expenses, or are you just interested in a particular health care service?

Asking for a specific doctor or institution that will provide you with health care is another factor in choosing a health insurance plan. Some people prioritize choosing a particular physician, while others do not care who will take care of them, as long as they provide the proper health care. In this case, there are two types of health insurance – indemnity health care and managed health insurance.

Finally, a company which provides health insurance in Moncton points out the expenses, as one of the crucial items for selecting the type of insurance. Of course, we all want the best for ourselves and our loved ones, but the financial factor is not negligible. Detailed research of offers on the insurance marketplace is a must. It often happens that we can find the same insurance plans at different prices and terms with two different insurance companies.

Types of Health Plans

There is no best health insurance plan that someone can suggest to you. It is all individual and depends on your preferences, needs, and possibilities. In principle, the division is as follows:

Indemnity Health Care

In other words, this type of health insurance is called “fee-for-service.” It’s about an indemnity plan that allows you to choose a doctor or institution where you will be treated, to pay the bills, and to wait for a refund from your insurance company. Or, depending on their policy, you will only pay a certain percent of the expenses and the company directly settles its obligations towards the health care provider.

Depending on the height of your policy, the percentage of coverage varies from 60-90%. Some health insurance plans may have a ceiling or a sum after which the insurance company takes over full coverage of your expenses (it is logical that this sum is quite high and usually inaccessible in a short period).

With this type of health insurance, some problems with cost evaluation can occur. If an insurance house estimates that your medical costs are too high, it is very possible that you won’t get a refund. While doing estimation, an insurance company considers various factors, and they come up with some maximum sum, beyond which they will not make payments. These are rare situations, but it’s good to know.

Managed Health Insurance Plan

As the name itself implies, in this type of insurance, someone else is managing your choice of health providers. If you decide on this health plan, you will deal with institutions or selected doctors who are part of the pre-arranged network of health care providers. There are several subtypes of this insurance, and read more about them here.

Common to all health insurance plans based on the managed health care is that the policyholders have the highest privileges if they use one of the health providers from the selected network. Basically, this is a mutual benefit – more patients will come to the chosen doctors and thanks to the signed contracts, the costs of both policyholders and insurance companies are low.

Higher or Lower Premiums

Most of us would initially consider the payment of low premiums, especially if we have good health, and the health insurance represents some kind of “prevention.” However, there are cases when it is worth giving a higher amount of money for premium payments (monthly, quarterly, half-yearly or yearly, depending on the policy plan).

Consider how often you use medical services if you have kids, or plan to have them in the near future. Also, summarize the costs if you frequently visit specialists and use expensive medications. Patients with chronic and autoimmune diseases will definitely visit physicians more often than the “ordinary” ones.

You may wonder how arranging higher premiums pays off? The answer is quite logical. More frequent doctor appointments, interventions, and therapy prescriptions mean higher costs. When you have a cheap health insurance plan, the insurance company will refund only a minor part of your medical bills. After a while, you’ll realize that this health insurance plan is not helpful.

With more expensive premiums, out-of-pocket costs are low because the insurance company will cover most of your medical expenses and, in some cases, the full amount. To find the best solution for you, be completely honest with the health insurance agent who will suggest the insurance plan.

Health insurance is not a luxury. More and more, it becomes a necessity, and there is no need to save on it. We are often unaware of what situations we expect in life, and health insurance brings some safety in the coming period.