January 5, 2011

The Purpose of Health Insurance


Every individual should purchase an affordable health insurance plan to cover the expensive medical costs incurred for various health related expenses like serious health disorders or illnesses, routine check-ups, diagnosis tests, physical examinations, prescription drugs, doctor consultation and various other expenses.

The coverage benefits and costing differ from plan to plan and varies with every insurance provider. Hence, one should perform adequate research on the web and compare the free instant quotes mailed to you within seconds before finalizing on the policy.

Health insurance plans enable you to take extra care of your health. This is because, when you do routine physical examinations, if you need to pay a nominal sum to get check-ups done rather than the actual fee, you would not tend to skip these tests. Otherwise, individuals do not go for check-ups in order to avoid the expenses for medical examinations. It also gives the comfort and psychological relief that in case sudden medical expenses are huge, the insurance plan will take care of most of these expenses.

Individuals pay a specific amount either on a monthly or a quarterly basis. This is referred as premium and the fee is generally paid in advance to the insurance provider for future coverage benefits. Typically, while you purchase a health insurance policy, you are given a health insurance identity card which you present to the clinic, doctor or hospital for verification purposes. The card also has details of your insurance number and the insurance provider. In case you avail direct claims settlement facility, the hospital would send the medical expense bill to the insurance company directly for reimbursement. Hence, you are saved of the tedious procedure of filing claims with numerous proofs for claiming back your expenses.

Every insured person should be aware of the terms and conditions of coverage of the health insurance plan they purchase. For example, pre-existing conditions, which refer to diseases, illnesses or serious health disorders which exist at the time of purchase of the insurance plan would not be covered. Similarly, the exclusions section of the policy document also list those circumstances or conditions under which the insured cannot file for claims. For instance, the insurance company would not pay you for any medical expenses that arise in case of injuries or accidents due to substance abuse or alcohol addiction. Self-inflicted injuries, medical expenses arising due to suicide attempts cannot be claimed from the insurance provider.

Some health insurance plans offer full reimbursement only when any medical expert, clinic or hospital that is tied up to its network is consulted. Otherwise, the individuals may have to bear a certain percentage of the expense out of their pockets. Sometimes, insurance companies insist to inform them before getting admitted for elective surgeries in order to get full reimbursement of the medical expenses.

Every individual should purchase a health insurance plan during their early years of life in order to reap best benefits as an average individual having a fit body at the time of applying for insurance will face lesser restrictions from the insurance provider for offering coverage benefits.

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