Affordable Health Coverage HMO, PPO or Indemnity Plan

One of the questions you will have to answer for yourself is what type of affordable health insurance coverage do you want to purchase. Typically health insurance is broken down into 3 types. The HMO or Health Maintenance Organization, Preferred Provider Organizations or PPO and Indemnity Health Plans. All have features you will learn to appreciate and all have features you will learn to dislike.

For persons belonging to an HMO, a small co-payment is made for each doctor’s visit, in addition to the premium amount. Doctors who are members of an HMO medical group agree to offer office visits and other services for a set capitation based on the number of patients enrolled as his patients These have become hugely popular and are normally affordable.

As long as everything falls within the parameters of a normal office visit you should be fine. Referrals to specialists and alike are often a little more troublesome. You will not be able to choose a doctor that is not on the list of pre-approved physicians. All fine as long as you can find a doctor that is acceptable to you.  There is also the potential is that not all services may be covered under HMO plans: you may have to pay out of pocket for some services.

For those who choose a PPO you can receive health care services from a participating medical group at a discount. Sound good? The advantage of PPO is the reduced cost to the patient. A major disadvantage of this type of coverage is that often some procedures are required to be assessed and reviewed before they are approved. This will prove to be frustrating for many people as often Doctors are sometimes forced to alter their treatment plan in order to assure that it will be covered. Again you get what you pay for , but this option is not really as bad as it sounds.

There are also some health insurance companies that offer a hybrid of an HMO and a PPO to make them more acceptable to potential policyholders.

Long before HMO’s and PPO’s , indemnity health plans were the norm. Again Doctors agree to charge discounted piece to participants for the proverbial services rendered. Patients have a deductible limit and typically charge 20% of their total bill.  After a deductible is met and out of pocket coast are reached most policies pay 100 % . While more expensive than the other two coverage plans, indemnity health plans allow their clients to choose the doctor and the hospital they want, as long as they are in members of the plan