Getting Health Insurance Is Not As Difficult As It Once Was
Not having health insurance is dangerous, especially if a serious health problem were to arise. Don’t be a victim of no health insurance. To protect yourself and the people you love the most, make sure you do whatever is necessary to find a quality health insurance package. These tips can help you find a great one.
If you and your partner have been riding on a single health insurance policy and one of you is nearing retirement, sit down and have an open discussion about how that transition will occur. Coverages will change for the retired person and several alternatives are available. They can continue for a while through COBRA and afterwards, they can apply for a standalone policy if the premiums are not prohibitively high, but the important thing is to walk into those decisions proactively.
To make sure you have the best health insurance, don’t let your policy lapse while you’re looking for new coverage. If you lose your insurance for some reason, you may be eligible for COBRA. This is a government program designed to let you continue with your insurance until you can find a new policy.
If you want to keep seeing your favorite doctors, make sure they are included in an insurance company’s provider network before you sign up. If not, you may have to pay extra to see them, if you even can. Don’t switch plans unless you are comfortable with the new plan’s physicians.
If you find yourself without medical insurance, you can still get medical care, but you will be paying for all of it yourself. To keep costs in line, use walk-in clinics, county health services and talk to your personal physician. Many will charge a bit less or work with you to set up a payment plan.
If you do not want to change doctors or facilities, make sure that your current provider is covered when changing plans. It’s frustrating to try to save yourself money only to find out you have lost your doctor of the past 10 years. Check on the approved facilities as well so you don’t end up having to go to a hospital that is inconvenient for you.
Take advantage of any wellness programs offered by both your workplace and your health insurance company. Both of these may reward you in different ways, such as your workplace offering a cash-incentive for completing an exercise program, or your insurance company lowering your premiums if you follow a quit-smoking one. These offers are rare, but helpful.
Get health insurance through a group. Whether it be an employee group, a union association, or other organization that works with certain categories of people, check to see if they have health insurance. Many groups offer discounted health insurance policies if you sign up for it as a group member, so join up!
To save money on your health insurance deductible, opt for generic prescriptions. This is especially helpful if your plan does not cover any medications. Generic drugs have the same active ingredients as name brand, but they only cost up to pennies on the dollar in comparison. Stop overpaying for your prescription medications.
Check for grandfather exemptions on your health insurance policy. If you employer has not made any changes to your insurance plan, certain things may be “grandfathered in” and will not be changed because of the health reform law. The materials for your plan will let you know if this has happened or not.
Take your time when shopping for a new health insurance plan. The last thing that you want to do is rush this decision. It could end up costing you hundreds of thousands of dollars in the future if you rush to enroll in a program that is not right for you and your family.
Check with physicians and medical care providers that you use routinely to be sure that they will accept whatever health insurance you may be purchasing. Check your new insurance provider’s website. Often, insurance companies post a list on their websites of doctors or health care facilities that accept their plans.
It is important to always have health insurance to prepare for the unexpected. You never know when you will get sick or possibly be involved in an accident in your car. Follow the tips you have just read to shop for a good policy to make a good investment and if you are in the Pheonix area, check out Emad Zaki, Dr.