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Assess Your
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Choosing a health insurance plan can be a daunting task.
But it is one that you must make in order to protect you and your family against the most serious and financially disastrous losses that can result from an illness or accident.
If you are offered health benefits at work, then making the choice could be easier since health plan options have already been narrowed down for you.
However, if you are shopping for your own health insurance you will be faced with far greater choices. There are a wide variety of plans.
In either case, before you choose a plan or even before you call your insurance agent, stop for a moment and think.
Decide what is most important for you and your family.
- Define what you expect from a health insurance plan.
- List all the medical conditions that you or any member of your family has.
- Identify what health care services are important to you and your family.
- Determine how much you are willing to pay for these services.
Here’s a checklist of the things you need to consider before you shop around for a health insurance policy.
Use it to help you outline your health care needs and clarify your expectations from a health insurance.
Please get a sheet of paper. Write down your answers to each question. You may want to create one column for each member of your family.
Access to care
How important are the following to you?
- Choice of doctors or hospitals
- Ease of securing an appointment
- Flexibility in choosing specialists for additional care
- Convenient location of doctors or hospitals (near work or home)
- Getting care when you travel or are away from home
Do you or any member of your family
- Suffer from any chronic conditions or disabilities?
- Require any of the following services?
- Preventive care and routine checkups
- hospital care
- surgery (inpatient and outpatient)
- medical tests, x-rays
- mammograms
- maternity care
- well-baby care
- physician visits
- office visits
- mental health care
- skilled nursing care
- drug and alcohol abuse treatment
- prescription drugs
- home health care visits
- rehabilitation facility care
- physical therapy
- speech therapy
- hospice care
- chiropractic treatment
- dental care
- vision care
- other services needed
- How much are you willing to spend on premiums and other health care costs?
- How do you feel about keeping receipts and filing claims?
You can however use as basis your medical history and previous year’s medical expenses as a starting point, and try to guess what other services (and costs of these services) you and your family might need.
Later on, you can figure out the total costs of health care to your family as you review the premiums, co-payment and co-insurance requirements of the plans you are considering.
For now a best estimate serves as an excellent starting point.
Go ahead. Take your time. Be as thorough as possible.
Done? Congratulations!
You have just completed what is probably the most critical step in finding a health insurance plan that's right for you.
Keep a copy of this list. You will need to refer to this later.
You will find that taking this step to assess your needs will help you stay focused as you begin to review the health care options and insurance quotes presented to you.
Soon, you will be able to shop with confidence, compare options better and choose the health insurance plan that is right for you…one that doesn’t just fit your budget, but more importantly gives you and your family the health care you need.
Ready for the next step?
Now that you have established your needs and expectations from a health insurance plan, you can
proceed to Step 3.
Step 1: Know the Health Insurance Terms.
Step 2: Assess Your Health Insurance Plan Needs.
Step 3: Which Health Insurance Type is Right for You?
Step 4: Where to get Health Insurance Coverage.
Step 5: Get the Best Health Insurance Quote Available.
Step 6: Make the Right Health Insurance Choice.
Step 7: Submit your health insurance application.
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