Before buying health insurance

Buying health insurance may be a confusing task, but before doing that you need to consider the five most important points as below. This way you can get the best deal by picking a policy that’s right for you:

Rate your Best Health Insurance Company:

Ask your agent for the Company’s A.M. Best rating. If the company is rated high enough in the national rating registry showing it’s rating history. Choose only companies that have an A or A+ rating.

Verify Health Insurance Company’s Record of any Complaint:

Most of the large companies might have some unresolved complaints. Avoid companies that have a high number of unresolved complaints. Ask your agent for the phone numbers of your State Board of Insurance. If he fails to give it to you, take this as a warning signal. You can also look out for numbers in any directory of your state’s agencies. Always verify what your agent says by asking your State Board of Insurance for the record on any insurance company you are considering.

Aware of the Limits Shown On Your Individual Health Insurance Quotes:

Check your quote to see if you are comfortable with the payable premium and benefit levels. You can usually adjust with several levels to fit your needs and budget. For instance, a higher deductible will cost less each month. Even many plans give you a choice to split your medical bills with the Insurance Company either 50/50 or 80/20 Thus they will give an amount (exceeding your deductibles) by paying you 100% of your covered bills for the remainder of the year. Such a deductible means that you will be responsible for bills up to that deductible for each accident or illness. Make sure you are aware of this distinction, so you can choose a plan that’s right for you.

Limits Revealed Within The Policy:

Ask your agent for a sample policy, and then check out the two sections-The Benefits and The Limitations and Exclusions. Many of your benefits are actually limited in the Benefits section. For example, diagnostic testing or outpatient treatment may be limited.

Unfortunately if you contract a critical illness such as cancer, and you never go into the hospital for it. You could rack up thousands of dollars in medical bills for the diagnostic and follow-up lab tests and MRIs, or you may have surgery, chemo, or radiation therapy on an outpatient basis.

Many policies may put a limitation on your hospital room rent and intensive care rate. Your hospital room rent should at least be the average semi-private and intensive care benefit should not be tied to your room rent, but instead, it should be covered as an average ICU rate of the hospital. Some policies limit the ICU benefit to 3 times the regular room rate, when ICU can cost you 10 or 20 times the room rate each day.

A short hospital stay with a limit like this in your policy can cost you literally thousands of bucks where a long hospital stay could drive you into bankruptcy. Even if your policy says, it takes over at 100% beyond $5,000 of covered medical bills, and the policy only pays three times the room rent for ICU, then the rest of the ICU bill is considered an “uncovered” charge.

Look Out for Acceptable Types of Limits:

Be sure to check the Pre-Existing Conditions Limitation if you already have any medical conditions, and ask your agent if the company excludes your conditions permanently on your policy. Some policies include pre-existing conditions after a stipulated period of renewals.

Pay your Best Health Insurance Company & Follow Up

And lastly, after issuing check to your insurer, make sure it has received and you’ve got the stamped policy. And don’t forget to check the exact Schedule of Benefits and coverage you’re going to get at par with your order. You also need to check if any special amendments were added to your policy to specifically exclude any of your conditions. If an Amendment exists, these conditions will always be excluded from this policy, even after the Pre-Existing Conditions Limitation expires.

Following these five tips will help you choose a low cost medical insurance policy which will protect you from catastrophic medical bills. So, be sure to take the time to choose wisely when it comes to your health insurance

source: http://www.informationinsuranceonline.com/