While health care may be a human right, the United States continues to tie coverage to employment. Because of that, millions of Americans have no health insurance, while millions more remain underinsured.
Despite this grim reality, many people don’t realize the extent of healthcare plans they have to choose from. To make the right choice, it’s essential to do your research and compare health insurance plans.
But how can you do that? Today we’re going to break down what it takes to find the right plan for you.
Read on to learn more.
Look Into Federal Programs
Remember that while lacking a universal system, the United States does have a couple of federal health insurance programs. While not everyone qualifies for them, it’s worth checking the eligibility requirements.
Let’s take a look at the two biggest programs.
Medicaid
Medicaid is a government program that provides health insurance to low-income people. It provides you with everything from inpatient and outpatient hospital services to x-ray and physician services.
Depending on your plan, you can also qualify for benefits like prescription drug coverage and occupational therapy.
Medicare
Medicare provides health insurance to adults over the age of 65 and people with disabilities. Unlike Medicaid, whether or not you qualify for it has nothing to do with your income levels.
Check out this site to learn more about what a Medicare Advantage Plan looks like.
Choose the Option Right for You
If you don’t qualify for Medicaid or Medicare, don’t worry—there are still many private health care plans to choose from. While some of these can be expensive, most states offer tax rebates and other programs that can help make them affordable.
The plans you look at will fall into one of three categories:
Bronze
Bronze healthcare plans are the cheapest on the marketplace, and because of that, have the lowest premiums. However, you also end up paying more for out-of-pocket costs and deductibles.
Silver
Silver plans are still affordable but provide you with more extensive coverage than bronze plans. Deductibles and out-of-pocket expenses won’t be as large compared to bronze plans.
Gold
Gold plans are the most extensive healthcare plans, but they are also the most expensive, as their name suggests. However, deductibles and out-of-pocket costs are often nonexistent.
If you expect to be using health care services a lot one year, it’s worth investing in a gold plan.
Understand How to Compare Health Insurance Plans
In contrast with the rest of the developed world, the United States still lacks a public, universal healthcare system. Because of that, choosing a healthcare plan can be a hassle (and an expensive one, at that).
Hopefully, at some point in the future, our government will recognize healthcare as a basic human right. Until then, use this guide to help you understand how to compare health insurance plans and choose the best one.
Are you looking to learn more about different types of health insurance plans? If you are, make sure to check out the rest of our site for more great content.
