It's that time of the year again where you not only have to shop for gifts for the holidays, but a time to shop for health insurance for you and your family. Trying to find health insurance as an entrepreneur or self employed can be hard because you don't have a benefits department like a regular job to help guide you through the process.
M.O.B. Academy is here to help guide you through the process on what is expected during the process.
Here are a few things you need to know when searching for your health care plans.
The health insurance market for individual plans open up in November each year and closes mid December of the same year. To find health insurance plans, you can visit the market place or the health provider's website to search for insurance plans that may suit your family's needs. You also have the option to find and utilize an insurance agent to help guide you through the process.
When searching for your plans you should consider the following:
The type of health insurance coverage plans. What is it that your family actually needs? Is there someone that will be on the plan that need to visit the doctor regularly?
Research doctors in your area and visit the doctor offices. Make time to swing by the doctor offices that you are interested in? Call them on the phone to see if they are accepting new patients. Ask yourself, was the rep friendly? Did they answer all of your questions? etc.
Copays for doctor visits. What will the copay for doctor visits be with this insurance plan? Emergency room visits? Regular doctor visits? Urgent care visits? Specialty visits?
Review the annual deductibles. Typically the lower the annual deductible the higher the monthly premium. The higher annual deductible, the lower the monthly premium.
Health Savings Accounts (HSA). Does the health care plan that you are interested in have a health savings account? According to healthcare.gov a health savings account is a type of savings account that lets you set aside money on a pre-tax basis to pay for qualified medical expenses. By using untaxed dollars in a Health Savings Account (HSA) to pay for deductibles, co-payments, coinsurance, and some other expenses, you may be able to lower your overall health care costs.
Prescription coverage benefits. If you are in need of filling prescriptions regularly, prescription benefits is going to vital part of your health insurance coverage.
Health rewards. Some health insurance companies reward patients that stay on top of their health by rewarding them with different rewards. For example, getting your annual physical for the year, the health insurance provider may reward you $50 via a health savings account or a health debit card.
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