Health Insurance Options
Did You Know?
One of the biggest obstacles of going through with your own insurance is that you will not have the ease of simply selecting an option when you start a new job. Instead you will need to do research on different plans and programs, enrollment periods, and cost before selecting the best insurance for you and your family.
Reasons You May Need to Look at Health Insurance Options
Obtaining private insurance through insurance companies may be the best option for you and your family if you are unable to be insured through other means. Since the Affordable Care Act was enacted by President Obama, the option of going through the Health Insurance Marketplace has also become an option. There are many reasons why you should or may have to get your own insurance including:
- Being unemployed
- Turning 26 years old (Under the Affordable Care Act, young adults can remain on their parent’s insurance until they are 26. Once their birthday passes, they must find their own insurance policy.)
- Being self-employed (You may also be responsible for obtaining and offering health insurance to your employees if you run a business that employs full-time workers.)
- Working part-time
- If you or your spouse retire
- Your existing insurer drops you as a client
More than likely one or more of the above scenarios may play out throughout your lifetime so it is important that you understand what your private health insurance options are. Going without coverage and insurance is always risky as no one can predict what may happen in the future. Accidents happen all the time and they are not always our faults. The last thing you need to be worried about in a time like that is how you are going to pay for medical expenses.
What are Your Health Insurance Options?
Now that you have a good understanding of what health insurance is and why it is important to carry it, let us look at a couple of different options below:
- Preferred Provider Organization (PPO) – Offers insurance coverage to policyholders using a healthcare network but allows for outside network services as well.
- Health Maintenance Organization (HMO) – Offers insurance coverage to policyholders using a specific healthcare network.
- High-Deductible Health Plan (HDHP) – A plan that features a higher deductible, but lower monthly premium payments to its subscribers.
- Short-Term Insurance Policy – Typically, these policies last up to 12 months and provide temporary coverage to fill gaps in insurance during the transition between jobs or waiting for other policies to begin.
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