What is the Best Health Insurance Plan?

Whatever problems we have with health insurance in the US, there are still a lot of choices on the market. If you need to select a major medical plan for your family, or just for yourself, a good choice can leave you satisfied. A poor choice can cause a lot of worry and problems.

The Types of Medical Plans

Preferred Provider Organizations (PPO) are very common today. The insurer has a network of doctors, hospitals, therapists, etc., and you will enjoy the highest level of benefits if you stick to the list. If you decide to ge medical services out of the network, you can still be covered, but at a lower level. A PPO plan allows some choice, and still provides coverage, so it is very popular.

A Health Maintenance Organization, or HMO, is somewhat similar to a PPO. You have a network list of medical providers, but you must use them to be covered at all. Though an HMO is not as flexible as a PPO, it can provide very good coverage and be simple to use. You may be happy with this choice if you live in an area where there is a wide selection of nework providers.

Understand that the network restrictions of HMO and PPO health insurance may be relaxed sometimes. They may have a written exception for emergency or urgent care. They may also make an exception, with prior approval, for use of a non-network medical provider when there is no provider of that type in the network. Please take the time to understand how any policy will handle these special cases in advance.

HSA (Health Savings Account) with a High Deductible Major Medical Plan – This type of coverage is getting more popular with people who want more control over their health expenses. You are allows to make pre-tax contributions, within IRS limits, to a savings account. This account may even pay interest and come with a debit card you can use at the doctor’s office!

You do not have to worry if you do not spend all of the money in your account because it will roll over to the next year. The account can be cashed out later, when you hit retirement age too.

Just keep in mind that some people are not happy with HSA plans because they do not ever fund their account. If you do have medical expenses that you need to pay, and have no cash in your account, that money will have to come from another source.

The point of this article is to point out the differences of the main types of individual health plans. Your own best choice will depend upon your budget, habits, and needs.

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