Many Health Insurance Policies have specific exclusions that eliminate your benefits for anything that could have been covered under Workers’ Compensation or similar laws.
Health Insurance Policy covers medical expenses, which include hospitalization & treatment charges along with surgeries or any other medical cost. Generally, insurance companies that provide the best health insurance plan in India are connected with a vast network of hospitals, which ensures suitable cashless treatment for the policyholders.
Furthermore, Health Insurance Policies also help you cope with the work-pay loss while undergoing treatment, which may otherwise cause inequalities in your family finances. In other words, having coverage with the Best Health Insurance Policy in India will enable you to opt for quality medical treatment without burdening your savings.
So, here let’s discussed 5 Basic Facts About Health Insurance Policies In A Bad Economy that can benefit you during difficult times.
Table of Contents
Facts About Health Insurance Policies
1. Does your health insurance policies cover you on and off the job?
Many health insurance policies have specific exclusions that eradicate your benefits for anything that could have been covered under Workers’ Compensation or similar laws. Now read that last sentence again.
Could have been covered!?
That is correct. Most self-employed people and even some small business owners do not carry Worker’s Compensation on themselves.
There are organised health insurance policies that will cover you on and off the job — 24-hours a day, if you are not required by law to have Workers’ Compensation coverage.
2. Are you writing it off?
Independent contractors, home-based business owners, professionals and other self-employed people typically are not taking advantage of the tax laws available to them.
Many individuals who are paying 100% of their own costs are eligible to deduct their monthly health insurance policy payments. Just that alone can reduce your net out-of-pocket costs of a reasonable plan by as much as 40%. Ask your accounting specialist if you are eligible and/or check out the health insurance policies website for more information.
3. Internal limits
All true health insurance policies use some form of internal controls to determine how much they will payout for a particular procedure or service. There are two basic methods.
–Scheduled Benefits
Many health insurance policies, some of which are specifically sold to self-employed and independent people, have a clear schedule of what they will pay per doctor’s office visit, or hospital stay, or even limits on what the health policy will pay for testing per 24-hr. period. This system is usually associated with “Indemnity Plans”. If you are offered one of these plans, be sure to see the schedule of benefits, in writing. It is significant that you understand these types of limits up front because once you reach them the corporation will not pay anything over that amount.
-Usual and Customary
“Usual and Customary” refers to the rate of payout for a doctor’s office visit, procedure or hospital stay that is based on what the majority of doctors and facilities charge for that particular benefit in that particular geographical or comparable area. “Usual and Customary” charges symbolise the highest level of coverage on most major health insurance policies.
4. You have the ability to shop!
If you are reading this you, are probably shopping for a health insurance policy. Every day individuals shop, for everything from groceries to a new home. During the shopping process, typically, the value, price, personal needs and general marketplace get considered by the buyer.
With this in mind, it is very troubling that most individuals never ask what a test, procedure or even doctor visit will cost will be covered in that health insurance policy. In this ever-changing health insurance policy market, it will become increasingly important for these questions to be asked of our medical specialists. Asking the price will help you get the most out of your health insurance policy and reduce your out-of-pocket expenses.
5. Networks and discounts
Almost all health insurance policies and benefit programs work with medical networks to access discounted rates. In broad strokes, networks consist of medical professionals and facilities who agree, by contract, to charge discounted rates for services generated.
In many cases, the network is one of the defining attributes of any health insurance policy. Discounts can vary from 10% to 60% or more depending on the plan and at which age you are taking it.
Medical network discounts range, but to ensure you minimize your out-of-pocket expenses, it is critical that you preview the network’s list of physicians and facilities before committing to any health insurance policies.
This is not only to confirm that your local doctors and hospitals are in the network, but also to see what your choices would be if you were to need a specialist in your selected health insurance policies.
Ask your agent what network you are in, ask if it is local or national and then specify if it meets your own individual needs.