Group Health Insurance Policies

We all understand the importance of a good health insurance policy. It not only provides financial coverage against unexpected health costs but it also reduces worry about it. With the help of a good health insurance policy, you can easily reduce the risk of developing serious health issues. Uninsured people generally ignore minor health issues or self-medicate. But when people have the coverage of a good health insurance policy, they feel more comfortable consulting a doctor before the problem has a chance to become more serious.

Group health insurance policies are generally provided by the employer of the firm you are working for. The insurance is provided for a group of employees as a whole. The insurance company provides a certificate to each of the group members. The best part about this type of insurance is that the employees do not need to qualify for coverage so you don’t need to worry about pre-existing conditions that might prevent you from getting an individual insurance policy. As an added bonus the employer often covers half the premium or even more as a benefit. Group health insurance policies might even provide coverage for certain health issues that are not covered under an individual policy.

Types of Group Health Insurance Policies

There are several types of group health insurance that can be provided by an employer. A few of these plans include:

1) Preferred Provider Organizations (PPO)

In a PPO, the major part of the health care is received from a provider network. You will generally have to pay a bit more if you choose to get care from outside of the network.

2) Health Maintenance Organizations (HMO)

An HMO is one of the easiest plans to use, since you simply pay the same amount for each doctor visit. You don’t even have to submit a claim.

3) Point of Service Plan (POS)

This can be termed as a mix of the PPO and HMO. You are required to select a physician who will help to manage and monitor your health. You must choose a doctor from within a network. The doctor becomes the ‘point of service physician’.

One disadvantage of group health insurance policies is that you may not have a choice of the plan or provider since these choices are often made by your employer. If you do have a choice of insurance policies you should always check multiple health insurance quotes before opting for one. Doing thorough research over the internet can help in choosing the right plan. Be sure to compare coverage as well as price. Many companies these days offer the benefit of comparing various health insurance quotes online. Just feed a few details such as the name and pin number and you get access to the quotes.

Notes for Employers

There are a few things that employers need to remember. These are:

1) As an employer you should make sure whether you would like your employees to be able to retain their insurance scheme after they retire.

2) As an employer other factors you should ask about are coinsurance, maximum limits and health deductibles.

See: Coinsurance Definition for more information.