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about individual health insurance plans
Mental
Infirmity historically has been excluded from most policies. However,
in recent years more and more policies include this type of coverage
but with limitations. The benefits are usually much lower than physical
ailments and a stated percentage of the benefit paid for other types of
medical care is included.
If you recall, we explained that there are two broad categories of
health insurance policies: disability and medical expense. Thus far we
have covered disability. Now we’ll take a look at basic medical expense
insurance. Basic medical expense policies provide for medical expenses
that result from accidents and sickness. This is a loose term that
refers to various medical, hospital and surgical benefits.
Most people have a general idea of the nature of ‘group’ coverage. The
most common type of group coverage is provided via employment. Many
employers provide group health coverage as a benefit to their
employees, either by paying the entire premium or sharing in the
premium.
Bringing an aide into your home just three times a week—to help with
dressing, bathing, preparing meals, and similar chores—easily can
cost$1,000 a month, or $12,000 a year. Add in the cost of skilled help,
such as physical therapy, and the costs can be much greater.
There
are 10 standard Medicare supplement policies, designated by the letters
A through J. With these standardized policies, it is much easier to
compare the costs of policies issued by different insurers. While all10
standard policies may not be available to you, Plan A must be made
available to Medicare recipients everywhere.
To
find out about each state's specific requirements regarding individual
health insurance policies, please see NAHU's Health Care Coverage
Options Database. The database also contains contact information for
the state regulators of individual health insurance policies to use if
you have questions or concerns.
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