How Can Insurance Help Your Health and Your Pocket?

Note: The following is a guest article, authored by a third-party. Its content is not endorsed by Wright on Health.

Everyone should have at least enough health insurance to cover a major accident or illness, but a lot of people don’t have even this much protection. The primary reason for this is cost. Many consumers can’t afford to pay for health insurance. If you think you are one of these people, you shouldn’t give up. There are many ways to get cheaper insurance.

Shopping for insurance can be frustrating, but the first thing you need to do is determine what your needs are. Your insurance premiums are determined by the level of coverage, the range of services which are covered, your deductible and factors about you such as your age, sex and lifestyle. You can’t do much about the last few, but you can choose the rest.

The level of coverage determines how much protection you have. A plan with a high level of coverage will let you go to the doctor whenever you want, but a plan with a low level of coverage will only cover accidents and serious illnesses. There are many types of plans in between these two extremes, of course, and the premiums vary accordingly.

Different policies also cover different types of services. A catastrophic injury policy, for example, may cover hospital bills, surgery and physical therapy but not follow up visits to the doctor. Other policies may cover everything, including prescription drugs and mental health issues. Of particular interest to young women is the issue of maternity benefits. Not all policies cover pregnancy, and if you are a woman of childbearing age and there is a chance you could become pregnant, you might want to consider buying a policy that will cover it.

The final factor that determines your health insurance premium is the deductible. This is the amount you pay out of pocket before the insurance kicks in. It can be anywhere from $250 to $10,000, depending on the policy. The cheaper insurance policies tend to have much higher deductibles than more expensive policies. One thing that should be noted about deductibles is that they often don’t apply to office visits; if your policy covers these, you will have to pay your copayment but not the deductible.

If you want to find a cheaper insurance policy, you will need to decide what level of services you want to have and determine what the highest deductible you can handle is. A high-deductible catastrophic illness or injury policy can often be purchased for as little as forty dollars a month, depending on the buyer. More comprehensive policies start at a hundred dollars a month and go up from there. Be sure to shop around. Insurers charge widely varying rates and you want to get the best deal possible.

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