The topic of health insurance is broad and nuanced, and before you dissect individual plans for you and your family, you need to be aware of the basics. Below, learn about the different types of health insurance policies and plans before you dive deep into the options. 

What Are Some Health Insurance Options?

There are two main options for health insurance, traditional and managed care. Traditional includes a fee-for-service, while managed care consists of a network. For traditional, you pay an upfront cost whenever you get sick in the form of a deductible, and the insurance company will pay the rest. Managed care is more complicated and includes plans such as PPOs, POS, and HMOs.

Which Type Is Better?

Which policy is right for you depends on if you’re single, married, or have children, if you have pre-existing health conditions, or if you require a large number of medications. Also, consider if your job offers a plan because upgrading it would be less expensive than switching service providers. 

As a rule, if you’re single, you can opt for a traditional plan, but if you’re married with children, go for a PPO or a POS because it offers a wide variety of specialists at a lower cost. Drug plans are covered under all managed care at an extra expense.

What Are the Network Types?

A provider network is a list of doctors, hospitals, and other health care professionals that are contracted to give you and other members doctoral care. If you want the help of a specialist out of your network, you will need a referral. Below are the common types of plans available.

• Preferred Provider Organizations (PPOs): You can choose any doctor, whether they’re in your network or not, without a referral. A significant upfront cost will be issued for doctors out of your network.

• Point-of-Service (POS): This is similar to PPO, but you pick a primary doctor from a list and need a referral to see anyone out of your network.

• Health Maintenance Organizations (HMOs): This includes limited coverage with doctors only available in an HMO, and rarely covers out-of-network specialists. 

• Exclusive Provider Organizations (EPOs): This has limited coverage to doctors in an EPO network, and you can’t see a specialist outside of it. 

Don’t delay getting health insurance for you and your family. Contact High Rock Insurance Agency in Lexington, NC, for their wide variety of customized and affordable coverage. They make it easy to update coverage whenever you need it, so you and your family don’t go without essential medications or procedures. With 24/7 support on not only health insurance but also auto and home insurance, this independent agency will give you the help you need. For a no-obligation, free quote, call (336) 236-9022, or request one on their website.