How to Choose Your Health Insurance Plan

Taking care of your family and your own health should be a major priority, for this reason finding a good health insurance plan that covers all your needs it’s important. You need to be preventive to protect your loved ones and yourself. It might seem hard for you to choose the right one, but following this information will make it easier for you.

Here’s a guide for choosing the best health insurance plan

To choose the right plan for you and your family, you have to know your necessities. Take into consideration your actual health condition, and your economic situation. Follow these steps, and you’ll succeed in finding your ideal health insurance plan:

Find your marketplace

If you’re not lucky enough to have employer-provided health insurance and don’t have coverage through your job, check your local health insurance marketplace. See if you qualify for an upfront premium credit, which would get you reduced costs.

Buying your health insurance through the marketplace means you may qualify for the credit when you file your tax return for the year. If none of these sources seems to work for you, buy a private plan. It will give you the widest range of options, but it’ll be far more expensive.

Get to know the types of health insurance plans

There are various types of basic health insurance policies, make sure you have access to all the options through your preferred source.

Health Maintenance Organizations (HMOs) is a popular type of health insurance policy. With an HMO, you need to use healthcare providers within the policy’s network, and you have to get a referral from your primary care physician to see a specialist.
Preferred Provider Organizations (PPOs) is also quite popular. A PPO health insurance policy has a network, but you’re not limited to in-network care, and you don’t need referrals to see specialists.
Exclusive Provider Organizations (EPOs) is a mixture of HMOs and PPOs. You need to stick to the plan’s network, but don’t need referrals for specialists.
Point of Service (POS) plans are a less common option that are essentially the opposite of an EPO. You’re not limited to the POS plan’s network, but do need a referral to see a specialist.

Of the four common types of plans, an HMO or EPO tends to be cheaper than a PPO or POS with the same level of coverage. However, if you don’t find convenient limiting yourself to network providers or the network coverage is poor in your area, it might worth paying a little more for a PPO or POS policy.

Compare provider networks

In-network’s costs are lower because insurance companies contract lower rates with in-network providers. Out of network doctors don’t have contracted rates, so it costs more to you and your insurance company.

If you have preferred doctors and want to keep seeing them, make sure they’re in the provider directories for the plan you’re considering. If you don’t have a preferred doctor, a plan with a large network is more convenient for you because you’ll have more choices.

Compare costs

The sources should be clear on how much you’ll have to pay for services. The federal marketplace and also state marketplaces websites offer snapshots of the costs for comparison.

Cost-sharing options may variate, so you need to make choices based on out-of-pocket costs. A plan that pays a higher portion of your medical expenses, but has higher monthly premiums. This the right one if you have children or are planning to have a baby. Even if you go to the doctor with frequency, or you’ve been recently diagnosed with a chronic condition like cancer or diabetes.

A plan with higher out-of-pocket costs and lower monthly premiums is might be the one you need. If you can’t afford the higher monthly premiums for a plan with lower out-of-pocket costs, or if you are in good health and rarely see a doctor.

Compare benefits

Every plan have different benefits; it’s important for you to know your current health situation. Make yourself some questions on how will the plan cover all your need. Your medication, the maternity services, the treatment for your illness, anything that belongs to your current situation. If you travel frequently, will this plan cover if you get sick abroad? It will be easier for you if you know what you need and which plan can help you get it.

Once you’ve analyzed everything up and you’ve decided what plan works better for you, you’re ready to sign up in the source of your preference and get your health insurance plan.

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