Considering an HMO for Your Health Insurance Plan?

Because HMOs use physician and hospital networks with the least expensive providers possible these health insurance plans are able to provide you with benefits most people like such as low copayments for office visits.

The downside is that when you see health care providers outside of the network, you will end up paying much more if not all of the cost of the care because HMOs offer limited or no benefits for out of network care except in the case of an emergency. This is why many people who have serious medical conditions do not join these plans.

The managed health care plans that allow you greater flexibility are the HMO Point of Service (POS) and the Preferred Provider Organization (PPO) insurance programs. These plans will cover some or all of the medical services that you need with health care providers who are not part of the network. But check all the policy provisions and make sure that they will cover the type of service you are receiving and with the physician of your choice.

When you start comparing different health insurance quotes for yourself, your family or your business you will likely find that the deductible and other out of pocket benefits for these plans are quite a bit higher than a plan without copayments for office visits for the same price.

So, you need to consider why you are buying health insurance in the first place. Is it to:

Have the convenience of a low copayment when you visit a doctor? or
To protect you from the costs associated with a serious medical emergency?
The smart money always buys insurance for things that need insurance. In the case of health care, that is protecting against catastrophic loss. But most people complain about how much money they spend on health insurance and how little they get in return. So they end up buying HMO and PPO plans and hope they don’t get really sick. A decision like that can be one you end up regretting.