Medical health insurance for Florida residents is a very important part of your financial and physical well-being. No one wants to get sick, but it is likely at one time or another you have worried about the possibility of a serious illness, especially if you do not have health insurance.
Florida medical health insurance can help to pay for your doctor’s expenses, hospital bills, the cost of medical equipment for your home and so much more. What’s more, if you are a Florida resident and do not have medical health insurance then you are responsible for any bills you incur during your illness. If you do not pay those bills the hospital and doctors that gave you care can sue you for payment.
Understanding your health insurance choices is the first step towards receiving good medical care. There are many people who are fortunate enough to have coverage through their employer at either a reduced rate, or occasionally for free. However, with the changes in the economic landscape, many employers have had to eliminate health insurance as part of their benefits in order to prevent employees from losing their jobs. This leaves you with two options for health insurance care.
Traditional FL Health Insurance
The first kind of medical health insurance you can choose from is traditional health insurance. Traditional health insurance allows you to choose your doctors and hospitals on an at need basis. There are no lists to choose from, you need only to determine if the facility you want to use accepts your insurance. Depending on the policy you choose, you may have to pay for your services out of pocket and apply for reimbursement at a later date. If this is not a viable option for you, speak with one of our independent agents to discuss which health insurance companies allow doctors to bill them directly.
There are three types of plans that fall under the guise of traditional health insurance. The first one is called basic medical insurance. Basic medical insurance covers a portion of your hospital stay and medical and surgical procedures. Sometimes it pays the doctor’s fees during the time that you are in the hospital. An independent agent can help you find the most comprehensive basic medical plan available if the is the path you wish to take.
The second type of traditional Florida health insurance is the limited medical benefits plan. Limited medical benefits cover the costs of common medical care, such as physicals, well child visits, and sick visits. However, this option does not cover the costs of long-term illness such as cancer, heart disease, diabetes and other chronic and life-threatening diseases. Limited medical insurance is much less expensive than other types of traditional insurance because of the limiting nature of the healthcare that you can receive.
You are able to purchase riders with your limited medical benefit plan if you want to have something that covers you in case of a long-term illness. However, this will increase the cost of your insurance and the additional coverage is traditionally only a few thousand dollars more than the regular plan. This coverage is a good option for someone who is in-between insurance coverage or who is remarkably healthy and does not feel that they need additional coverage.
Florida Major Medical Insurance
Major medical insurance is another option for your Florida health insurance. Major medical is a comprehensive plan that covers every aspect of your medical care. This insurance is more expensive than the other two traditional options; however, it does offer long-term care. Typically major medical insurance has an 80/20 average for your out of pocket expenses. This means that the insurance company pays 80% of your costs and you pay 20% up to a certain maximum out of pocket. However, for a higher monthly premium, you can choose 90/10 or for a lower premium, you can choose 70/30.
With major medical coverage, you will usually have to pay a deductible before your medical insurance starts paying for your costs. The deductible varies based on your needs. The higher the deductible the more affordable the plan will be. You get to decide what that deductible is going to be based on how much you can afford to pay monthly. There is an out of pocket maximum for each insured person (or family) when using this kind of insurance. This maximum ensures that if you have paid over a certain amount of money out of pocket, your insurance company will start to pay 100% of your care. However, the out of pocket maximum will reset each year.
Florida Managed Care Plans
Managed care is the other type of FL health insurance plan that you can choose from. Managed care companies limit the amount of money a doctor or a hospital can charge for certain services. With managed care companies, you choose a primary care physician from a network of available doctors. Depending on what type of managed care coverage you choose, you may have to have a referral to see any kind of specialist as well as have certain types of care (such as surgery).
The most commonly known type of managed care is Health Maintenance Organizations (HMO’s). However, in recent years, many people are choosing other managed care options over HMO’s because of the many problems experienced through this type of plan. This does not mean, however, that an HMO will not work for you. You simply have to choose your HMO from a reputable company to ensure that you get the care that you need when you need it.
HMO’s are typically the least expensive option of the managed care choices. That is because HMO’s are the most limiting when it comes to whom you can see for care, when you can see a specialist and whether or not you can have surgery or other types of care. The benefit of an HMO, outside of the less expensive monthly premiums, is that you never pay for your services up front. Your out of pocket expense is usually a co-pay (which will vary depending on the plan you choose). Recently, legislation passed that allows HMO’s to offer plans with deductibles as well, this can make your HMO monthly premium even more affordable.
Another managed care option is the Preferred Provider Organizations (PPO’s). PPO’s are similar to HMO’s; however, PPO’s actually contract with specific doctors and hospitals for the care of their clients. While there is still a network to choose from, typically the doctors have a lot more patients because of the contracted charges.
Point of Service Plans (POS) offers a combination of traditional medical plans with HMO’s and PPO’s. A POS plan allows you to choose your physician from within the plan or outside of the plan. This allows you to see whomever you want, when you want. If you choose a physician outside of your service plan, then you will have to pay a cost difference (coinsurance) between what your insurance covers and the actual cost of service. There are also deductibles when you choose a POS.
Understanding Your Options
Understanding what your options are for health insurance will help you make a better decision when it comes time to buy. Purchasing health insurance can become a complex process; so, speaking to one of our independent agents will help you answer any questions that you may have.
If you are prepared to make a Florida health insurance purchase, then use the free quote tool found at the top of the page so that you can compare rates for several companies side by side. Getting a good price is just as important at purchasing the right type of health insurance and using our quote tool will ensure that you know the cost of everything that you are looking for.
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