What Is Health Insurance?

Insurance coverage varies greatly, but basically is a type of insurance policy that pays a percentage of pre-negotiation of an insured is covered for medical treatment. Do you really need health insurance or can not live without it? The answer depends on whom you ask, and the question is not always easy.

What Is Health Insurance?

Like other forms of health insurance does not really become a problem until you need it. Car insurance does not do you any good until a car accident. Life insurance does not do anything good until you die. And health insurance does not do anything good until you need medical assistance. If you believe in Murphy's Law, that anything can go wrong, it is, then you probably should consider getting health insurance.

In some countries, health insurance is not offered by private companies as it is in America. In England, France, Canada, Sweden and Norway, for example, are doctors and hospitals are reimbursed by the government instead of an insurance company.

United States, there are three basic types of insurance:

1) Self-Insured/Uninsured. This is where a person has no insurance or health insurance but are responsible for paying 100% of insurance premiums. This group is estimated to be at least 30% of the U.S. population.

What Is Health Insurance?

2) care plans. Care plans are divided into three categories. All are essentially networks to provide contracted services by specific providers at contracted prices:

i) health organizations (HMOs) are prepaid plans in which members pay a fixed monthly fee, regardless of how medical care is required given month. HMOs provide health care varies from hospital visits and outpatient surgery, and usually insist that to stay within the network when you need the services of doctors and hospitals.

ii) preferred provider organizations (PPO) are groups of doctors and hospitals that provide medical services only to certain groups. PPO members typically pay for services they provided, and the PPO sponsor reimburses normally the cost of treatment. In most cases, the price of each type of service, negotiated in advance health care providers and the PPO sponsor.

iii) Point of Service (POS) plans are not as common as the other two. A type of managed healthcare system where you pay no deductible and usually only minimal co-payment when using a provider within your network. You must also choose a primary care physician is responsible for all referrals in the sales network. If you choose to go outside the network of health care, you will be subject to excess charges or deductibles.

What Is Health Insurance?

3) insurance plans allow participants to seek medical help when needed. Participants can visit any doctor or specialist, as often as deemed necessary. There are no restrictions when seeking medical help, but is by far the most expensive type of health insurance.

Which of these types of health insurance is right for you depends on your personal situation. Choosing health insurance is a tedious task and it can certainly be frustrating, but it's something everyone should consider, sooner rather than later.


See Alos: Car Insurance, Health insurance