Health insurance is a valuable resource to have. It’s often necessary to have if you want to maintain a healthy life. After all, most people will experience an illness of some sort and need to go to the doctors.
Health insurance can be tricky to navigate, though. Many people don’t understand how it works and how they can add others to their insurance.
Additionally, many people do not understand where they can get health insurance and how the payment process works.
This post will cover some of the basics of health insurance and how you can add new people.
How does health insurance work?
Health insurance can be best viewed as a legal agreement you make with a health insurance company. As an individual, you agree to pay a certain amount of money for a health care plan to the health insurance company.
You might wonder, “Why don’t I pay for health services directly versus through a company?” And the short answer is you can. You are free to directly go to a health care provider and pay for health services from your pocket.
However, health care costs in the U.S. are notoriously expensive. The price for individual services like wellness check-ups, x-rays, blood tests, and physical therapy can range in the thousands of dollars. If you need major surgery or need to stay in a hospital, your bill can range in the tens of thousands.
It’s primarily for this reason that people choose to buy health care plans from health insurance companies. Buying health insurance helps reduce the money you’d typically have to pay for health care services.
How does payment work?
When it comes to paying for health insurance, you have to pay a premium. This usually occurs monthly, and it’s a general fee associated with having a health care plan.
You also have to pay deductibles, which is the cost of a health service that your health care company doesn’t cover. Once you meet your deductible amount, your health care plan will start sharing the costs.
For example, if you need surgery, you will have a deductible you need to pay. Once the deductible has been met, a health care company may pay up to 75 or 80 percent of your medical costs, but you still have to pay the other 25 or 20 percent.
Premiums and deductibles can range all over the place regarding price and what services are covered. For example, some people pay low premium prices, but when they visit the doctors, they still have to pay a hefty deductible.
This type of approach might work well when you’re young and don’t expect to visit the doctors too often. However, if you’re older and have more health ailments, this would probably be a bad approach. You’ll have to do your research to find what type of plan and price point works best for you.
Other factors to take into account
When choosing a health care plan, you’ll want certain things covered. Typically, you want to have preventive care 100 percent covered. This will be for things like getting a wellness screening or an annual check-up.
Another thing is you want to be aware of what health care providers are covered in your plan. This is called a “network,” and you generally do not want to receive health services outside your network. If you get health services outside of your network, you will probably have to pay high fees compared to staying in your network.
You also don’t want a health care plan with hidden or added fees. These additional fees can make a small visit to a doctor’s office expensive.
Getting health insurance
There are various ways to get health insurance. One way is to buy directly from a health care insurance company. Another method is to go through a federal or state health exchange.
The most common way people tend to get health insurance is through their employer. Many employers will work with a health care insurance company to offer a health care plan to their employers.
You may also be able to receive health insurance from a family member or significant other. Who can be added and how they can vary, though.
Adding people to your health care insurance
As mentioned above, people can be added to other people’s health insurance. The most common reasons for adding someone to your health insurance are if they are a newborn, newly adopted, or a new spouse.
Adding new people to your health insurance isn’t too hard. For example, adding a newborn to your health insurance coverage will require you to contact your insurance company or employer to tell them you want to make the addition. They may ask you to provide a copy of their birth certificate and social security card. If everything looks good, they should be able to your newborn to your health insurance.
Similar things can happen if you need to add your spouse to your health insurance. A health insurance company or your employer might ask for something like a marriage certificate to prove you and your spouse are married. From there, they will probably ask for some of your spouse’s personal information, such as a copy of their birth certificate and social security card.
Adding someone new to your health insurance plan can be somewhat costly, though. You may experience a jump in price in your premiums when you add someone new to your health insurance plan.
However, you will probably save more money adding them to your plan. Consider the following situation. If you have a newborn that’s sick and you don’t have them on your insurance, you will have to pay out-of-pocket to cover their treatment. You would have probably saved more money adding them to your insurance.
Is health insurance worth it?
Health insurance is generally worth it, but it really comes down to the lifestyle you live and your risk tolerance. If you are young and live a relatively healthy life, you might be able to go without health insurance.
However, if you are ever in a life-threatening accident or other incidents, you may regret not having health insurance. This is because with health insurance, you would probably not have to pay an extremely expensive bill.
The choice is ultimately up to you. It is essential, though, that you weigh your options and do your research.
Thank you,
Glenda, Charlie and David Cates
