INDIVIDUAL HEALTH INSURANCE
Are you self employed?
If employed, does your employer not cover your health insurance needs?
Do you have no outside source of insurance?
If any of the above is you, you need an individual
insurance plan. Your choices will fall under the broad categories of HMO
or PPO, and in some cases a slight variation of each.
Basically a PPO allows you to use any doctor or facility you prefer. HMO's
limit the doctors and the facilities you can use, except in emergencies.
Both vary in the services they cover and the share of costs that they cover.
To know more about the differences between PPO's and HMO's click here.
The decision of PPO or HMO begins with these questions:
-
Price - What are the monthly insurance premiums
for each plan? What can you afford?
-
Features - What health care services does
each program cover?
-
Cost Sharing - What would be your share of
the cost for these services?
-
Access - Is it important to you to see any
doctor you want or are you willing to trade that flexibility for some other
benefit?
CPB Health will help you with your decision. We explain available health
insurance plans in understandable terms. Also important to the process is
a review of your expectations of health insurance, i.e. what role it needs
to play for your finances, security, and general care.
Specific interests such as pharmacy, eye care, and individual dental insurance
are each distinct items to be considered in your correct choice of an individual
health insurance plan.
|