Health Insurance

Health insurance helps you manage and control medical expenses throughout your lifetime.  If an unexpected, medically related circumstance occurs, medical expenses can rack up at an astonishing rate.  Health insurance is designed to offset what can often be staggering medical expenses.  The type of expenses you could never pay on your own.

Health insurance utilizes a community concept to manage the payment of large medical bills.  Generally, it works like this: Health plan members pay a comparatively modest monthly premium.  Collected funds go into a pool which is used to pay for large, unexpected medical costs incurred by members.  Plans usually include preventative benefits, such as, regular doctor checkups or screenings.

Health insurance covers a broad range of medical circumstances - inpatient, outpatient, emergency room, urgent care.  Circumstances that are usually not covered within a medical plan, include vision and dental services.  Also, purely cosmetic services, such as plastic surgery, not associated with a medical occurrence, is usually not covered.  Vision and dental can often be added to a health insurance plan as an additional benefit, if you are willing to pay for it.

Where and when you can use your medical coverage.

First off, with the exception of covered preventative services, something has to occur medically before you can utilize your health plan.  In other words, unless it is a specifically stated benefit, you cannot just show up at the doctor's office, request services, and expect your insurance company to pay the bill.  You have to have symptoms of a type that would suggest a medical ailment.  Also, most plans have a network of doctors and facilities that you will need to stick to, if you want your insurance company to pay benefits.  Unless it is a medically emergency, most benefits are severely limited if you seek medical attention from a doctor or medical facility that is outside of your assigned network.

Health Care Sharing Plans

There are new health coverage options that fall outside of traditional health insurance.  Healthcare sharing plans, otherwise known as faith-based health plans, are a growing segment of the health plan market.  There is an interesting article concerning the growth of the Healthcare sharing plans.  Visit: NewPlanOptions.com.