Health protection needs are covered for many people in the U.S. through a combination of public and private health insurance. Private health insurance plays an important role, but there is no single type and it is pays to know which is right for you.
The volume of private health insurance companies in the United States is more than 1,000. The offer is wide and varied. In fact, in recent years, health insurance has become increasingly flexible and customized.
We can however classify them into different types:
Most common types of health insurance in the United States
The main categories of health insurance in the United States are classified as follows:
- Conventional fee-for-service plans: This is the conventional model, and also the most expensive. They offer a high level of flexibility and personalization. They also provide a higher volume of health coverage and services.
- Health Maintenance Organisations (HMOs): This is an offer limited to a number of specific healthcare providers. Generally, both the co-payment and the total cost are cheaper than in other models. Preventive care is also usually covered.
- Preferred Provider Organisations (PPOs): are similar to HMOs in terms of application within co-payments, but are considered more flexible. They operate through lists of providers to be chosen by the insured.
How to choose the health insurance that is suits you best
When choosing private health insurance, a number of factors must be taken into accouny. The first is the degree of actual insurance protection we already have, through public insurance or other types of protection available.
The second is the actual need for health protection: insurance for a single person will not be the same as for a whole family.
Other factors to take into account are the following:
- Your insurance rights: which doctors you can go to, which hospitals you can choose, clinics or pharmacies available, and so on.
- What specialties are covered: Not all insurance policies cover the same medical services. It is important to check whether specialties such as mental health or ophthalmology, among others, are covered.
- Whether special treatments are covered: As in the previous point, it is important to consider which special treatments are included in the insurance coverage. For example, whether or not you have access to psychiatric treatment, physiotherapy, treatment during pregnancy, and so on.
- Another important aspect is to assess whether or not we are entitled to home care, nursing home care, and, of course, medication costs.
- On the financial side, it is also relevant to analyse the cost of co-payments and what the bill would be in case of medical care.
There are more elements to take into account, for example, the price of the policy. In general, with these factors analyzed, you can get a good idea of whether or not the insurance you are offered is right for you.