Consumers can choose from high-deductible coverage, managed care, discounted service plans as well as others. The available options include:
- PPO: The most popular insurance plan, the PPO is used by families and individuals alike. It combines the flexibility and affordability that many people require, in addition to a offering wide range of coverage options, including comprehensive and hospital-surgical only.
- HMO: This is a managed care plan and the oldest kind of insurance coverage. Its focus is on preventive treatment rather than catastrophic. It boasts low premiums and co-pays, but requires consumers to choose a physician from their network.
- POS: A Point of service plan is like a pay-as-you go service. Consumers pay a percentage or co-insurance amount for hospitalization and wellness care. It is a cross between a PPO and an HMO plan.
- SDHP: Self-Directed Health Plans put the consumer in control, allowing individuals to allocate a medical expense allowance however they see fit. Any leftover allowance funds can be rolled over to the next year's account, providing a cost-saving option for policyholders who have limited minor expenses. Once your allowance is depleted, it becomes your responsibility to cover your expenses, so an SDHP requires some level of planning.
- HSA: The Health Savings Account caters to a different kind of consumer. Unlike PPO and HMO plans, the HSA is consumer-driven, which means that individuals take responsibility for their own medical costs by placing money in a tax-advantaged account and withdrawing it when necessary. The account balance rolls over from one year to the next.
- HDHP: A high-deductible health plan accompanies a Health Savings Account. Its main purpose is to give consumers a complementary catastrophic insurance policy, and offsets the cost of higher deductibles with much lower premiums than plans offered by HMOs and PPOs.
- Fee-for-Service: This plan is also called an indemnity plan. Consumers pay a predictable co-insurance amount with each doctor visit. For those who visit the doctor frequently or have an ongoing medical condition, this kind of plan can be a good investment.
- Limited Benefit Plans: With an influx of part time and low income workers, the limited benefit plan has been implemented so that even those who are working for companies such as Wal-Mart and McDonald's have the same opportunities as other workers to get health insurance. Although there is a yearly cap on how much the policy will pay for, the limited benefit plan is very affordable.
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Affordable-Health-Insurance.com is an informational resource only and not an insurer or broker. The information on this site is provided for research purposes only, and is not necessarily affiliated with any specific carrier. Coverage options and policies may not be available in every state, and no guarantees of the same are made herein.
