Hard Time Understanding Health Insurance? This Guide Is For You!
Health insurance providers are trying to make as much money from you as possible and often, the insurance policies that they offer can be difficult to understand. This article contains numerous tips that will help you to select a suitable insurance provider and purchase a health insurance plan that meets both your financial and medical needs.
Help keep your portion of health insurance costs low by taking advantage of perks your employer may offer. For example, a company may offer a rebate of the cost of one monthly premium when you provide proof of a preventative checkup. Read your employee manual or talk to HR to see what incentives your company offers.
If you have finished college recently, you should look for a good health coverage. If your place of employment offer insurance, take advantage of this benefit. Under current health care laws, those under 26 years of age are allowed to remain on the insurance policy of their parents, though this could change. Be sure to check out individual policies, too.
Never pay your insurance agent your monthly premiums. Health insurance payments should always go directly to the insurance company. With no middle man involved, there is less of a chance for error. If you pay the company directly online, then you will also have current records of payment on your bank statement every month.
If you do not want to change doctors or facilities, make sure that your current provider is covered when changing plans. It's frustrating to try to save yourself money only to find out you have lost your doctor of the past 10 years. Check on the approved facilities as well so you don't end up having to go to a hospital that is inconvenient for you.
Make sure that you're always reading the fine print of any health insurance policy. The last thing you want, is to suffer some type of illness that the insurance company doesn't have to cover. And if the company doesn't have to cover it by contract, you better believe that they're not going to volunteer their services.
Before any major procedures, confirm if you need to get pre-authorization from your insurance company and make sure they check on every aspect of your procedure. Stories about of people receiving large bills because the anesthesiologist was out of network, or that you needed to try a different medical option before going for a surgery. Save yourself the headache and get everything in writing before heading in to the hospital.
When thinking about getting a health insurance plan, not many people think of using get more info a broker to get them the best policy. These brokers can find insurance companies that are well suited to an individual, get the best rates offered, and will be there to explain all the aspects of a particular health plan.
You may want to consider a health savings plan. This is perfect for someone who doesn't have to go to the doctor all that often. It also works great if you have a high deductible. You save money in your account each month and then if you do need it, it is there for you to use.
Understand copays and deductibles. Look at your plan carefully, and make sure you understand exactly what is covered, and what you are responsible for. The last thing you want is a health insurance plan that doesn't cover what you need. Take into account how much you will have to pay for each doctor's visit and what your initial deductible is before insurance kicks in.
When shopping for health insurance, check to see if your favorite doctors - from general practitioners to specialists - are included in each provider's network. While some providers will allow you to see out-of-network physicians, you will often pay far more for those visits than you would for visits to in-network practitioners.
When getting ready to change health insurance policies, be aware of your costs when it comes to eye-care, too. This is just as important as other types of medical care. If you wear contacts or glasses, you need to know how much they cost you a year. Also, keep track of the prices you pay for lens cleaners and other related supplies.
Before signing for a health insurance plan, make sure to shop around. Choose the plan that covers most or all of your needs. Make sure that the insurance company you choose is widely known and reputable with excellent customer service care. Also, make sure to be aware of what prescriptions they actually cover.
If you are going with a private insurance plan you should talk to your doctor about conditions in your file to make sure everything is up to date. Private insurances have the option of going back, up to 10 years to check your medical files for conditions you had prior to getting insurance through their company.
Don't wait until you have an emergency to learn what your policy covers and what it doesn't. Even more importantly, don't wait until it's too late to buy insurance at all, and get stuck with crushing medical bills. This article contains tips for making sense of the health insurance system and how it relates to you.
The coronavirus pandemic could push telemedicine into the mainstream
Telemedicine has been around for more than two decades, but its adoption among Americans has been relatively low. The coronavirus pandemic is quickly changing that.
With millions of people around the country forced to stay home in lockdown and worried about potentially exposing themselves to the virus, many of them are turning to telemedicine companies' virtual consultation services. According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, most people that contract the coronavirus only suffer mild illness and can recover without leaving their homes. Telemedicine companies are stepping in to give patients a chance to talk through their symptoms and decide if they need to be hospitalized.
CareClix, a virtual health platform based in Alexandria, VA, has more than 20 million users across the US and says it saw a 50% increase in usage in March. Zipnosis, another telemedicine company based in Minneapolis, reported a 3,600% increase in virtual visits on its platform over an 11-day period last month.
"Unfortunately, it's taken some pretty extraordinary circumstances, but I think this will be a watershed moment for the industry," Zipnosis CEO Jon Pearce told CNN Business. "Certainly in the past few weeks with Covid, I think people's desire to have trusted advice from medical providers is just gone through the roof ... and that's what we can facilitate in a very fast fashion. And more importantly, we can facilitate that without leaving your home."
Both companies have different approaches to telemedicine.
CareClix, founded in 2012, connects patients to doctors through an on-demand video platform that attempts to recreate the in-person experience in a virtual setting — similar to chatting with your doctor on FaceTime.
"We really try to mimic what's done in brick and mortar," said CareClix co-founder and CEO John Korangy. "From the user's perspective for the patient and... the doctor, they're not doing anything different than they would if you came and saw me face to face. The only thing different is now we have a monitor in between us."
While CareClix's technology is used by hospital networks and healthcare providers around the US, the company also has an internal team of doctors that can provide remote services to patients.
Zipnosis, on the other hand, operates in what is known as asynchronous care — where the doctor and patient don't need to be in the same place (even virtually) at the same time. The company, founded over a decade ago, has users fill out a virtual questionnaire through a chatbot-like tool that packages their responses for a doctor to review and diagnose. Zipnosis claims this can dramatically speed up the process, allowing doctors to make a diagnosis in an average of 89 seconds.
"Instead of talking to a doctor over video, you would answer a series of yes [or] no questions," Pearce said, "the same questions they would be asking you in real life when instead of doing that, we have a really smart computer system do it."
Telemedicine has its limitations — some complex diagnoses and treatment may require in-person interactions. If a patient appears particularly sick, telemedicine companies will recommend they go to a clinic or hospital. But the technology can play an important role in easing some of the initial load from walk-ins, particularly as the global pandemic places strain on the healthcare system and makes people nervous about being exposed to the virus.
"What's happening is that people are worried," said Ann Mond Johnson, CEO of the American Telemedicine Association, a non-profit organization focused on increasing the adoption of virtual health technologies. "People don't know really what to do, where to go, whether or not they should get a test for the virus. And so the hospitals are really deeply concerned about managing exposure."
CareClix has begun offering free Covid-19 evaluations to its users, while over 40% of health care providers that use Zipnosis's technology are also offering free screenings.
https://edition.cnn.com/2020/04/27/tech/telemedicine-coronavirus-wellness/index.html