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What is the best health insurance plan for you and your family?
There are basically two ways people obtain health insurance policies.
- They purchase their own individual policies to protect themselves and their families.
- They have coverage through their employer.
If all people could afford to have their own individual coverage, it would be far better than having coverage provided by their employers. Why? An individual policy is non-cancelable. A group policy is lost, if you get fired, quit or the company you work for goes out of business. Even though there are COBRA and HIPPA programs to extend coverage when you leave your employer, there are often many problems with these conversion programs. COBRA usually only lasts for 18 to 36 months and the premiums can be quite expensive. If you leave one job and expect to be hired by another company which offers health benefits, you may be OK. On the other hand, if you are not healthy, you may not be employable and therefore would not be able to get the next company’s insurance program.
What are HMO and PPO plans?
HMO stands for Health Maintenance Organization. Kaiser Permanente is a typical HMO program. You are assigned a primary provider physician and he or she treats you for most medical conditions. When this doctor cannot provide adequate medical treatment, he or she refers you to someone in the health maintenance organization. You must go to hospitals that are approved by the HMO program.
A PPO plan (Preferred Provider Organization) offers you the choice of choosing any doctor or hospital to provide medical services to you and your family.
Some people like HMO’s and some people only like PPO’s. It’s your personal choice.
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