Health insurance is one of the more complex pieces to an individual’s financial life in the United States. There are a number of things to consider. For instance: insurance companies, plan types, specific coverages, exclusions, and time frames all matter.
Here are the top three health insurance questions we hear and their answers.
The Top Three Most-Asked Health Insurance Questions
How Do I Know What Insurance Plan To Pick?
The appropriate health insurance for you depends on a number of factors.
As a general rule of thumb, pairing a Health Savings Account (HSA) with a high-deductible health plan is best if you have low on-going healthcare expenses. Often, an employer will provide an HSA contribution to offset the higher deductible. In addition, the HSA allows you to invest money on a tax-advantaged basis. You can then use it down the road when you need it.
If you have higher healthcare expenses, it is important to review the differences between plans available to you. This is because specific coverages can make for large cost differences.
What Exactly Does My Insurance Cover?
Insurance coverage varies tremendously from one policy to the next. Therefore it’s essential that you understand your specific policy. Even if a policy is from the same insurer, a different employer will likely have different coverages. It may be boring or frustrating to have to go through the details of your insurance plan. However, it’s the only way that you will know what to expect for out-of-pocket expenses for your situation.
Should I Use Supplemental Life Insurance?
Dental and vision insurance typically have quite low benefit amounts compared to the cost. For that reason, it comes down to comparing the cost of insurance to your expected expenses covered by the insurance.
Supplemental life insurance and accidental death and dismemberment (AD&D) insurance can be a cost-effective solution for your protection needs (read more here). The benefit of these coverages in a group plan is that you are guaranteed insurable. If you purchase your own insurance, the insurer will give you a personalized quote that may be more or less expensive than the group plan. They could also give you a complete denial of coverage. However, this depends on the insurers determination of the likelihood that they would have to pay a claim on you.
Additionally, you may have some other supplemental benefits through your employer. The process here is the same. They will determine how much you would benefit from the coverage and compare it to the cost of the insurance.
If your head is spinning looking at all these different numbers and technical terms, don’t get frustrated. We’d love to help! Let’s chat!
