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individual health insurance companies
We are going to take a look at the limited coverage for hospital, medical and surgical expenses. Discussing this separately first, will help you to understand how the components are combined in major medical and comprehensive policies.
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.
Keep in mind that unless you have a long-term care policy, you are not covered for long-term care expenses under Medicare and most other types of insurance. Recent changes in federal law may allow you to take certain income tax deductions for some long-term care expenses and insurance premiums.
Policies may be written as such that they may be limited to only one or two types of coverage like hospital or miscellaneous medical costs or surgical expenses. These are known as basic plans.
Another consideration is the maximum indemnity period for loss of time benefits. The longer an insurer pays disability benefits, the higher the rate will be.
Preferred Provider Organizations are another attempt to reduce medical costs. This is an arrangement whereby a selected group of independent hospitals and medical practitioners in a certain area agree to provide certain services at a prearranged rate.
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