Health Insurance Basics

The high and increasing health care costs make health insurance indispensable. You need health insurance to protect yourself financially. Although insurance premiums can be costly, a treatment of an unforeseen illness or injury is likely be much more expensive.

As with any other major purchase, you have to shop around before buying health insurance. The main things to look at when comparing different plans are:

• Which services are covered
• How much coverage you receive
• Who will provide for your health care
• Where and when you will receive health care and, of course,
• How much are you required to pay for health services

You can obtain health insurance in two different ways:

• Group Insurance: This is the popular way to receive health insurance coverage. Most employers offer group health insurance to employees and their families. If you are covered through your job, you’ll only have to pay part of the insurance costs. If you are not covered through your job (you work for a small businesses or work part-time), you can still get group insurance through membership in a professional association or another organization.
• Individual Insurance: If you can’t obtain group insurance, or your group insurance is very limited, you have to consider buying individual policy. We advise that you familiarize yourself with the different insurance types described below before you start shopping around for health insurance.

There are two main types of health insurance:

• Fee-for-Service Plans
• Managed Care Plans

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