Invest in Health Insurance
What is Health Insurance?
Health insurance is a type of insurance that protect insured from medical expenses. You may choose reimbursement policy or paid the expenses directly by the insurer. Every country have their own regulations regarding providing health insurance for their citizen. Several country provide national health insurance and/or employee health insurance and require the citizens to be enrolled in it. Another country relies on private health insurance.
Health Insurance Forms
There are several forms that often used in health insurance policy :
- Deductible is the amount insured have to pay out-of-pocket before the insurer pays the rest expenses.
- Premium is the amount policyholder have to pay according to their coverage plan.
- Coinsurance is a percentage of the total expenses that insured must pay.
- Co-payment is the amount insured must pay out-of-pocket before the insurer pays for a certain visit or service.
- Exclusions means not all services are covered.
- Capitation is an amount insurer pay to insurance company which agrees to treat all members of the insurer.
- Out-of-pocket maxima. In this case, payment obligation of the insurer ends when they reach the maximum of out-of-pocket, so the insurer will pay all further covered costs. However, out-of-pocket maxima can be limited to spesific category like prescription drugs.
- Coverage limits means some health insurance policies only pay for health care up to certain amount.
Health Insurance in USA
United States has an organization work as a medical insurance group that provides health services for a fixed annual fee, which called Health Maintenance Organizations (HMO). They manage care for health insurance, self-funded health care benefit plans, individuals, and other entities in the United Stated. HMO use the term "health plan", while the commercial insurance companies use health insurance.
According to the United Stated Census Bureau, roughly 55% obtain insurance through an employer, while about 10% purchase it directly. About 31% of Americans were enrolled in a public health insurance program: 14.5% (45 million - although that number has since risen to 48 million) had Medicare, 15.9% (49 million) had Medicaid, and 4.2% (13 million) had military health insurance (there is some overlap, causing percentages to add up to more that 100%). Employers may also provide reimbursement for health insurance purchased individually by their employees through a Defined contribution health benefits plan. Employers are allowed to pay employees cash in lieu health insurance, but this is uncommon as it is subject to strict IRS regulations. (source: Wikipedia)
There are many types of coverage in health insurance system in USA, I will explain those types in next article. In my opinion, purchasing a health insurance is like an investment. Because we won't be 100% healthy in full year, we can get mild ill or worse. It's not bad for having "backup coverage" like insurance so that our pocket won't get hurt too much. Beside, many countries have regulations for its citizen must enrolled in health insurance.
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