In addition to being quite expensive, healthcare in the United States can also be confusing. Fortunately, navigating the world of premiums, deductibles, open enrollment and more is easy as long as you keep a few details in mind.
Read on to get helpful tips on how to find the right health insurance plan. Learn about common health insurance terms and find out how different types of health insurance plans work.
Before we share tips on how to choose a health insurance policy, let’s first shed light on some of the terminologies and jargon you may encounter when you want to apply for health insurance:
- Premium– These are monthly deductions you make for your insurance plan. It is more like a fee you pay on a regular basis, even if you don’t need health insurance at the moment. Your employer should pay a portion of your premium if they are offering you health insurance.
- Deductible. This is the maximum amount you have to spend on health care in a given period before your insurance chips in and begins to pay the excess portion of your bills. In most cases, if you select a plan where you pay lower premiums, you will end up having a higher deductible. The vice versa is true.
- Copay. This is a flat rate paid for a service, such as lab work or doctor visits. In other words, these are set fees you pay to access in-network services whenever you need them.
- Out-of-pocket maximum. This is the maximum amount you need to pay out of your pocket to cater for your health care in a year before the insurance undertakes to cover all your future bills within that year.
- In-network providers vs. out-of-network providers. In-network providers are medical practitioners whom an insurance company has negotiated with to offer discounted health rates to its clients. The insurance company negotiates with such entities, which means that if you obtain health care from these providers, you will be charged less in terms of co-pays.
On the other hand, out-of-network providers are medical practitioners that your insurance has not entered into an agreement with. This means that you will pay more for health care services from them.
