Individual health insurance plans and an individual health plan

Are you  a recent graduate, a newlywed, retiring early or between jobs? Then you are probably looking for affordable  Individual Health Insurance Plans. You might have just left a group health plan at your employer.  Or your hours might have been reduced, causing you to lose your individual health coverage.  Or perhaps you are seeking to switch from your current individual health plan to a new one.

Until recently, most of us got our individual health insurance plans from their employer. People with low income either got their health insurance from the government or just went without any health insurance coverage at all. Currently more and more people are buying their private individual health insurance plans that are specifically made for individuals. Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield Individual Health Plans is just one example of current health plan providers available for individuals.

Choosing an individual health plan – besides  getting the right coverage – is  also about figuring out the costs and choosing a low cost health plan that makes financial sense for your situation. Individual health insurance can actually be fairly affordable.

Types of Individual Health Plans

There are several different individual health plans to choose from. The most common types are as follows:

• HMOs (Health Maintenance Organization) – HMOs are one of the most affordable health plans available that offer comprehensive coverage. Most HMO networks consist of thousands of health care professionals, ensuring you’ll have convenient access to medical care when you need it.
• PPOs (Preferred Provider Organization) – The PPO is an affordable health plan with an added benefit – you’ll have coverage with any health care provider. That means you can see any doctor or specialist you want, and your plan will cover the care. The PPO is great for flexible, comprehensive and affordable health care.
• Health Savings Account (HSA) Plans – HSA coverage consists of two parts: a high-deductible health plan and a Health Savings Account. The high-deductible plan provides catastrophic individual health coverage and features low monthly premiums. The HSA is a tax-free savings account where you save money to pay for routine medical expenses.
• Fee For Service (FFS) Plans – The FFS plan is the traditional form of individual health insurance plan. It works very simply – you pay upfront to get the health care you need, then you’re reimbursed for a percentage of the cost.

Understanding the Cost of Individual Health Insurance Plans

Every individual health plan has various costs associated with it including the upfront costs and the back end costs. The main parts to any individual health plan are listed below:

• Premiums – Premiums are payments you make to your health insurance provider to keep your plan in effect. Premiums are typically paid on a monthly basis. The Premium amount is set by your health insurance company based on factors such as health status, age, where you live, and where you work.
• Deductible – The deductible is the dollar amount you must pay out of pocket before your individual health plan begins coverage. Most individual health plans let you choose your own deductible and have various costs depending on your choice. It might seem like a lower deductible would be better but a low deductible means you’ll have to pay higher monthly premiums. Conversely, the higher the deductible, the lower the monthly premium. You must decide if you want lower monthly premiums or lower medical bills for your health care.
• Copayments and coinsurance – With an HMO health plan, you are sometimes required to pay a small dollar amount at the time of your visit to a doctor’s office. That’s called your copayment or co-pay. You pay a certain dollar amount of the bill and your plan covers the rest. HMOs offer copayments as low as $10, while PPOs often charge copayments of $40 or less. Coinsurance is similar to a copayment, except it’s expressed as a percentage rather than a dollar amount. A coinsurance rate of 80/20 means you’ll be responsible for 20% of all medical bills and the insurance company pays the other 80%. There is also usually a maximum amount that a health plan will pay out.

The majority of people in America today have employer-sponsored individual health insurance. The company they work for pays for a majority of the premium costs. Because of the extreme rise in heal plan costs, employers have been passing up quite a bit more of these costs to their employees in recent years. High deductible plans and HAS plans are becoming increasingly popular choices for employers.

The number of people with individual health coverage is growing however. Today, more than 13 million people have an individual health plan. Why would someone choose an individual health plan over an employer’s health plan? In a group health plan, everyone ends up in a one-size-fits-all type of insurance plan. The problem with this is that everyone has different health needs. Quite often you end up either paying for coverage you don’t really need, or you may have to go without coverage for care you do need.

Also, with an employer’s plan, leaving your job means leaving your individual health insurance plan. Individual health plans protect your health wherever your career takes you and saves the hassle of switching companies and making the changes with your health care provider – if they accept your new individual health plan. Otherwise you may even need to find a new physician that accepts the plan.

Individual health insurance is meant for single individuals. These plans are the best individual health insurance opportunities for people who are self employed or work in small companies that either do not offer individual health plans to their employees or offer plan options that don’t meet your needs. Just be sure to review all the options and costs for the plans you are considering. Selecting the best individual health plan for you takes some time, but it is worth it in the long run.