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"As a recent college grad and
an employee at a start-up company, I needed help finding a reliable
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me with all the information I needed to make a sound decision.
Your consultant walked me through every step of the way. I am
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was painless"
-Tom R., Santa MonicaRead More
The nurse put an adult-sized mask on 9-month-old Gillian (they didn't have anything else). The mask was huge, and Gillian couldn't easily inhale the medicine to treat her asthma attack, her mom says. Then they had a hard time ... More...
Excerpt: About one in five adults age 19 to 29 don't have health insurance. Sure, you're a young, strapping specimen of good health. But you're not invincible.... More...
If
you are researching California health insurance or Colorado health insurance
for the first time, it's best to start at the beginning: Health
Insurance (also known as health coverage or medical coverage) allows you
to pay a third party a monthly fee in return for free or reduced emergency care,
doctor visits and prescription drugs.
There
are two key things you should consider when choosing California Health Insurance
or Colorado Health Insurance.
1) Quality of medical care: Consider
health care quality in the same way you would think about signal clarity with
a cell phone carrier. Before you pick an exact phone plan, you have to decide
whether to go with Verizon or T-Mobile. There is nothing worse than getting
stuck with a cell phone company that drops your most important calls and doesn’t
offer a signal in your own neighborhood. Similarly, it’s no fun when your
California health insurance or Colorado health insurance company fights your
request to see a dermatologist or bogs you down with paper work. Of course the
quality of the medical care you receive will depend a great deal on your particular
doctor or hospital, but some insurance plans are consistently better than others.
Fortunately, consumer advocacy groups such as Health Scope have surveyed and
ranked the major insurance providers. These ratings take into consideration
important factors such as quality of service, communication by medical staff,
billing hassles, “red-tape” and choice of doctors.
2) Extent of health insurance coverage:
Just as some people are willing to pay for comprehensive cell phone
plans that allow them to talk for hours on end, you can pay higher health
insurance premiums, and receive more extensive medical coverage. You must
determine what’s most important to you and what trade-offs make you most
comfortable. For instance, some plans might offer an attractively low monthly
bill, but in turn, they may only cover a portion of emergency medical visits
and nothing else. Other plans have higher monthly fees but will allow you to
visit the doctor and hospital whenever you want with very few additional fees.
Before you can decide what California health insurance or Colorado health insurance
plan is right for you, you’ll need to understand the following four health
insurance buzzwords.
a.Premium: Refers to your monthly health insurance bill. In
general, the higher the health insurance premium, the less you will end up
paying for B, C and D below.
b. Deductible:
Refers to the cash amount that you have to fork over before your health insurance
company is required to contribute. For instance, a $500 deductible means that
when you go to the hospital to have that hatchet taken out of your spleen,
you’ll have to pay the first $500; the health insurance company will
kick in the remaining balance.
c.Co-pay: Refers to the amount some plans require you to pay
toward the cost of a particular health service (e.g. $15 every time you see
the doctor).
d.Co-insurance: Refers to the percentage of fees you share
with your health insurance company. If you have 20% co-insurance, they pay
80% of the operation and you pay the rest. Many plans also have an out-of-pocket
maximum (e.g. $3500 per year) which will give you a general idea of the most
you would have to pay, should you have a particularly rough year at the crash-up
derby.
Look for these four
terms while reviewing health insurance benefit information and you
will get an understanding of how much you will pay up front (premium) and how
much you will have to pay if you need medical care, (the other three). Remember,
if you elect a plan with a low premium you will usually pay significantly more
on deductible, co-pay or co-insurance fees if you wind up in the hospital. Regardless,
having a plan with a low premium and high deductible and co-insurance will still
help you realize a huge savings over having no insurance at all, should you
end up in the hospital. Think of low premium plans like those “Intro 20
anytime-minute” cell phone offers. They are great if you rarely use it,
but if you end up needing your phone more often, you’re better off with
a more comprehensive health insurance plan.
Remember
there are a few differences between cell phone plans and health insurance
plans. Most notably, if you’re on your way to Hawaii and need to expand
your cell phone coverage, it’s no problem. If you are own your way to
the emergency room and need to expand your health insurance coverage, you’re
out of luck. Also, having health insurance doesn’t just safeguard your
health, it can help you avoid financial ruin if the worst comes to pass.
New Tonik Health
Insurance for the 19 to 30 crowd...
Blue Cross has recently launched a
new group of plans called "Tonik Health"
specifically targeting active young healthy people who need health insurance
but hate forms and jargon. Their goal is to create fun, easy to understand plans
that you can apply for in minutes. We were skeptical at first since, as we all
know, health insurance companies are notorious for making everything more confusing
than it needs to be. We were pleasantly surprised to find out that we were wrong.
Tonik plans are easy to understand, easy to apply for and very affordable. Find
out more about the Blue Cross Tonik Health plans by visiting our Blue
Cross Tonik Page or visit our Blue Cross Tonik FAQ
section. Tonik insurance is now offered in California,
Colorado, Nevada
and Georgia. Similar plans marketed under the name Sound are offered in
Illinois and Texas.
All of these plans can be found at www.tonikplans.com.
So what’s
next?
Your
next step is to get a California health insurance or Colorado health insurance
quote and look at the plan benefits to see what they charge for premiums, deductibles,
co-pays and co-insurances. Click here
for a quick quote with a link to benefit
information. Still have questions? Call Medicoverage toll free at (888) 285-MEDI,
and we’ll help you pick the right plan for you. Just don’t call
us from the ambulance!
