Search
Related Links

 

 

Informative Articles

Depression
DEPRESSION : Many of us feel depressed at one time or another, but for some, depression may be chronic and even debilitating. Emotions are a normal part of our life. We all experience anger, sadness, worry or fear on occasion and it does not lead...

Health Medicine and Glyconutrition: The Future Isn't What it Used to Be
This is what they call "Hope"? We've all gotten used to the idea that certain maladies will be around for a while...like until the Second Coming. Maladies such as cancer, heart disease, diabetes, arthritis...and many more are expected to...

The Myths and Facts of Mesothelioma
Mesothelioma is a severe disease that is thinning out its roots everywhere in the world especially in United States of America. It is a lethal form of cancer that is dreaded across the globe. For though there is medication to handle the disease's...

The Solution to Healthy Weight Loss
REQUIREMENTS FOR REPRINT: You have permission to publish this article free of charge in your e-zine, newsletter, ebook, print publication or on your website ONLY if it remains unchanged and you include the copyright and author information (Resource...

What You Should Know About Mixing Medications and Diet
"...Medicine is dominated by a conservative inertia in which, for what they conceive of as medical-legal safety, 95% of the entire pack moves forward slowly, and together, to incorporate advances in science...." The Doctors' Medical Library 2004...

 
Health Plans

Copyright 2005 Dave Markel

Choosing a health insurance plan that is best for you and your family is one of the most important decisions you'll ever make. Choosing between health plans is not as easy as it once was. Although there is no one best plan, there are some plans that will be better than others for you and your family's health needs. Plans differ, both in how much you have to pay and how easy it is to get the services you need. No plan will pay for all the costs associated with your medical care, some plans will cover more than others.

Most Americans have health insurance through their employers, and every year more employers offer insurance coverage by managed care organizations (MCOs). Today, Americans are in an era of managed care. It's a new experience for most people. Managed care companies may decide what doctor you will see and when, and what treatments will be covered. It requires you to make some important decisions because not all managed care plans are the same.

In choosing a health insurance plan, you have to decide what is most important to you. All plans have tradeoffs. It is worth asking yourself a few questions such as:

* How comprehensive do you want coverage of health care services to be? * How do you feel about limits on your choice of doctors or hospitals? * How do you feel about a primary care doctor referring you to specialists for additional care? * How convenient does your care need to be? * How important is the cost of services? * How much are you willing to spend on health insurance premiums and other health care costs? * How do you feel about keeping receipts and filing claims?

You might also want to think about whether the services that a health insurance plan offers meet your needs. Call the plan for details about coverage if you have questions. It is worth considering the following:

* Life changes you may be thinking about, such as starting a family or


retiring. * Chronic health conditions or disabilities that you or family members have. * If you or anyone in your family will need care for the elderly. * Care for family members who travel a lot, attend college, or spend time at two homes

Most health insurance plans provide basic medical coverage, but the details are what count. The best plan for someone else may not be the best plan for you. For each plan you are considering it pays off to find out about a range of things from physical examinations and health screenings, care by specialists and prescription drugs to vision care and dental services. It is also important to find out about the various offered services such as medical counseling as well as what is on offer.

Ask if a certain service is limited or not covered. You should find out if what is provided is what you require and if there are special programs for certain types of illness. It is also worth finding out about medicines and equipment that may be needed. Find out what types of care or services the plan will not pay for. These are usually called exclusions. Few indemnity and managed care plans cover treatments that are experimental. Ask how the plan decides what is or is not experimental. Find out what you can do if you disagree with a plan's decision on medical care or coverage.

Finally you should think about the location of services and how far you may be prepared to go for care. On this subject you should consider whether or not the plan handles care when you are away from home.

After you review what benefits are available and decide what is important to you, you can compare plans. Many things should be considered. These include services offered, choice of providers, location, and costs. The quality of care is also a factor to think about.

About the author:

For more great articles about Choosing a Health Plan visit http://for-more-info.com/health/health-insurance.html

 

National Library of Medicine - National Institutes of Health
Part of the National Institutes of Health, the National Library of Medicine offers access to health information for consumer, patient, and physicians ...
www.nlm.nih.gov
 
Health and Medical Information produced by doctors - MedicineNet.com
Doctor-produced health and medical information written for you to make informed decisions about your health concerns.
www.medicinenet.com
 
Medicine in the Yahoo! Directory
Collection of sites for health professionals, with sections on specific disciplines, organizations, continuing education, conferences, publications, ...
dir.yahoo.com
 
MedlinePlus Health Information from the National Library of Medicine
Health information from the National Library of Medicine. Easy access to Medline and Health topics, medical dictionaries, directories and publications.
medlineplus.gov
 
Medicine - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Medicine is a branch of health science and the sector of public life ... The practice of medicine combines both science as the evidence base and art in the ...
en.wikipedia.org
 
Journal Home - Nature Medicine
Nature Medicine has a vacancy for a Locum Assistant Editor for six months. The position involves working in all aspects of the editorial process, ...
www.nature.com
 
The New England Journal of Medicine: Research & Review Articles on ...
The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) is a weekly general medical journal that publishes new medical research findings, review articles, and editorial ...
content.nejm.org
 
eMedicine Clinical Knowledge Base
eMedicine features up-to-date, searchable, peer-reviewed medical journals, online physician reference textbooks, and a full-text article database in 62 ...
www.emedicine.com
 
Open Directory - Health: Medicine
the entire directory, only in Health/Medicine. Top: Health: Medicine (11429). Description · Medical Specialties (4888); Surgery (2265) ...
dmoz.org
 
the www virtual library biosciences medicine
www.ohsu.edu/cliniweb/wwwvl/ - Similar pages
 
Medicine - home
Bimonthly journal covering the latest results in clinical investigation relevant to hospital and office practice.
www.md-journal.com
 
Institute of Medicine
The Institute of Medicine serves as adviser to the nation to improve health.
www.iom.edu
 
ScienceDaily: Health & Medicine News
Medical Research News. Health news on everything from cancer to nutrition. Full-text, images, updated daily.
www.sciencedaily.com
 
Google Directory - Health > Medicine
Search only in Medicine Search the Web. Medicine. Health > Medicine, Go to Directory Home. Categories. Alternative Medicine (6308) Basic Sciences (66) ...
www.google.com
 
the world wide web virtual library biosciences medicine
www.mcb.harvard.edu/biopages/medicine.html - Similar pages
 
PLoS Medicine - A Peer-Reviewed Open-Access Journal
PLoS Medicine is a peer-reviewed, international, open-access journal published ... Every issue of PLoS Medicine contains a selection of readers' responses. ...
medicine.plosjournals.org
 
Medicine On-Line - Medicine Online -The International Medical Journal
Medicine Online - independent and peer reviewed journal published by Priory Medical Journals - priory.com.
www.priory.com
 
Entrez PubMed
PubMed is a service of the US National Library of Medicine that includes over 16 million citations from MEDLINE and other life science journals for ...
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
 
Stanford University School of Medicine
Home Page of the Stanford University School of Medicine.
med.stanford.edu
 
Medicine OnLine
Meds.com offers medical information and education on cancer (lung cancer, colon cancer, breast cancer, leukemia) and HIV / AIDS for patients, ...
www.meds.com