7 Things to Look for When You’re Shopping for Temporary Health Insurance

7 Things to Look for When You’re Shopping for Temporary Health Insurance
SHARE

Temporary health insurance plans exist to help those individuals lacking guaranteed long-term healthcare. These plans ensure medical coverage for Americans diagnosed with unexpected illnesses, those involved in life-threatening accidents, or those who suffer long-term consequences from medical emergencies like heart attacks.

If you’ve maintained good health and managed to dodge chronic illness diagnoses, you might feel tempted to forgo health insurance, primarily if you identify as low-income. However, the unexpected doesn’t always wait around for a convenient time.

Before opting out of health insurance, imagine the stacking medical bills you may be forced to pay out-of-pocket in case of an emergency. Because these healthcare services are non-negotiable in the event of deadly car-crashes and life-threatening strokes, remaining uninsured isn’t the wisest alternative.

If you feel intimidated by the costly expenses of comprehensive insurance plans, opting for short- term coverage can benefit you and your family. And if you have questions about how this might affect your tax situation, you can speak to a tax expert or CPA online with TurboTax Live, and you can do so from your home in Charlotte, San Francisco, Tulsa or anywhere else in the United States. Furthermore, to ensure you don’t overspend on your health insurance plan, account for the following seven details when shopping for temporary health insurance.

Provider network

As the first step in your health insurance journey, you’ll need to examine the available provider network and verify that your first-choice hospitals and primary health care providers are covered. You don’t want to get sick and visit your preferred physician, only to realize that your health insurance isn’t accepted. In these situations, beneficiaries will have to cross their fingers, hoping their insurance provider has a viable out-of-network policy. Alternatively, these patients may have to go looking for a new doctor.

Remember that some temporary insurance policies have no established network, which means the beneficiary must pay a sum of money depending on a provider’s services. Therefore, be sure to check with your provider to determine their pricing and what they’ll cover. Otherwise, you risk exceeding your medical expenses budget and compromising your family’s financial stability.

Fortunately, the provider network is available online. Check out this helpful resource to make an informed and budget-friendly medical decision.

You medical needs

Insurers develop different health insurance policies or various purposes. What works for your friend might not work for you. For optimal results, ensure you assess your medical situation and purchase a temporal insurance plan that aligns with your unique medical needs.

Some beneficiaries may be looking for reassurance options in which the insurance policy incorporates limited benefits. By contrast, other patients may prefer a platinum Obamacare policy if they spend a significant amount of time in hospitals and other healthcare facilities. Choose a temporary health insurance plan cautiously and with your chronic conditions in mind.

Pharmaceutical coverage

If you’re currently taking prescription medication, it will serve you in the long-run to identify if the policy covers your prescriptions. By taking this crucial step, you can avoid spending more than necessary on your daily medication.

Without these precautions, the cost of a medication covered by a previous insurance policy could double if you fail to confirm with your insurance provider. If these providers corner beneficiaries into astronomical prescription costs, these patients may discontinue medication use. Should you choose to forgo your medication, you may experience unpleasant and potentially life-threatening side effects.

Premium

You may also want to check your insurance plan premium. The total cost of a temporary medical insurance plan will be paid within the defined period, mostly monthly or in full. The amount you will pay is based on the health insurance plan’s benefits but separate from the deductible.

If you wish, you can keep costs low by controlling pivotal factors such as copay, coinsurance amounts, and deductible. To minimize costs, conduct the necessary research.

Coinsurance

According to most standard definitions, coinsurance is the percentage of bills you’re required to pay after your insurance provider pays their portion. Remember that the amount of money your insurer pays varies depending on your benefits.

Note that this coverage will only kick in once you’ve met your total deductible. If you haven’t met your deductible, you’ll owe the company a certain amount of money based on the medical bill amount.

Deductible amount

The infamous (and widely dreaded) deductible is the amount of money you’re required to pay before your insurer starts to cover your medical services. Typically, you can define this deductible as the total amount you must first meet to cover the medical expenses you accrue during your coverage time.

Once you hit the set deductible amount, your health insurance provider will cover any medical service that follows, per the purchased health insurance plan. Keep in mind that you may still be subject to coinsurance and copays.

Higher-deductible health insurance plans are typically beneficial for individuals who seldom purchase prescription medication or visit a doctor. If you’re drowning in medical expenses due to recent surgeries or chronic illness diagnoses, opting for insurance with a lower deductible plan will serve you in the long-term.

Copay

Copay is the amount you pay, aside from the premium cost, each time you visit a health specialist or physician. These costs also apply to prescription medication purchases, emergency room visits, and urgent care services.

Keep in mind that this copay is not part of your deductible but an additional financial responsibility on top of the deductible amount. These payments often fluctuate according to your monthly insurance coverage payments.

Conclusion

Don’t leap headfirst into a temporary health insurance plan without accounting for the factors mentioned. To avoid incurring debilitating medical debt when involved in a medical emergency, rely on this health insurance alternative.


SHARE

I am a pop culture and social media expert. Aside from writing about the latest news health, I also enjoy pop culture and Yoga. I have BA in American Cultural Studies and currently enrolled in a Mass-Media MA program. I like to spend my spring breaks volunteering overseas.

Post Comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.