How to Compare Health Insurance Providers
When cash is short and budgets are stretched, finding ways to cut back on goods and services becomes a full-time job. While it doesn't quite fit into a list of items humans require to stay alive -- like food, air and safety -- having health insurance is creeping painfully close to a requirement for survival. The trick to landing the right health care coverage isn't just finding the cheapest one; it's finding the one with the best coverage for your personal needs that also happens to fit your budget. This article can help you accomplish that goal so you wind up with a clean bill of health for your family and your pocketbook.
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Instructions
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Use the Internet to research health care plans. This will take some time. Beware of making judgments and assessments from beautifully designed brochures and reports. They are written by marketers trained to attract people who are in a highly emotional state at the prospect of making critical health care decisions.
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Compare rates. Assess everything from deductible parameters to monthly premium charges and from disclaimers that can increase a premium without notification to contingencies found in the small print at the bottom of corporate marketing materials.
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Investigate the financial rating of each company being considered. Financial ratings are stability indicators and show policy holders the amount of risk insurers are willing to take to uphold the company's reputation. Consult Moody's, A.M. Best and Weiss. Each offers financial health assessments and can provide you with additional information you'll need to narrow your choices.
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Ascertain the quality of the care each company offers. To begin, understand the difference between indemnities (you pick your doctor and may switch to a new one if, for whatever reason, you become dissatisfied) and managed care plans that require one to use pre-selected doctors.
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If you choose a managed care plan, gain assurances by checking out the doctors under contract to the insurance company before you sign on the dotted line. Visit the American Medical Association website. It keeps track of every medical practitioner in the U.S. Alternately, drop by the library and consult The Directory of Medical Specialists.
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Obtain reports and reviews of customer satisfaction surveys associated with care providers. Find out how much paperwork is required to file a claim. Want to test a prospective insurer? Formulate a few questions and call its customer service number to see how the representatives respond. For example, ask: "Can I switch primary doctors at any time during the year if I don't like the one I pick?" Request a brochure. If it takes weeks to arrive, rethink that provider as a viable choice.
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Pay the required fee to obtain a Consumer Check or Consumer Reports evaluation of health care carriers once you have narrowed down your search. There's a good chance you'll find a scale tipper after reading these reviews.
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Go to the websites of the finalists on your list and use their tools to search by ailment to verify coverage for a condition you or a family member may have. While you're there, examine each hospital's fee structure. For example, the Aetna website lists fees for 600 procedures and also publishes reviews of local doctors, so you'll get plenty of reassurance about companies on your short list by taking this step.
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Use your favorite spreadsheet software or grab an accounting pad. Create columns for premiums, deductibles, financial ratings, consumer ratings and other criteria found during your research that is helpful for your comparison. Once you look at everything on the page, you can make a more informed decision. Understand that no amount of due diligence can assure a trouble-free experience, but you'll feel confident that you've done your homework.
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Tips & Warnings
Visit the eHealthInsurance website to peruse an abbreviated list of insurance company ratings if you don't have time to do a thorough search due to time or resource access. Use the link at the end of this article.
