Choosing a health insurance plan and investing in it can be one of the most critical investments one can make as it covers a plethora of health mishaps and problems that could, without insurance, cost you a lot of money. Apart from regular consultations, health insurance can also help you cover surgeries as well.
Even though many of the advantages that a health insurance offers are known to the public, there are Americans that do not have any form of health insurance. Adults that have to pay nearly a third of the expenses from their pocket were greater than 45 million.
By doing so most of them had to file for bankruptcy since they couldn’t cope up with the medical bills they were handed.
When it comes to health insurance in the United States, there are two categories. These categories are based whether you take it for your family or yourself and whether your employer or college provides you with one. Hence, the former is called individual coverage whereas the latter is called group coverage.
The regulations, as well as the parameters, were changed significantly with the introduction of the Affordable Care Act. Before, people with preexisting health problems were discouraged from getting health insurance whereas now, plans are mandated to cover people with the said condition.
Within the scope of this article, we’ll cover individual health insurance without going extremely deep into it.
There are three types of coverage pathways which are as follows
- Insurance type where the providers are inside the ACA healthcare exchange.
- Insurance type where the providers are outside the ACA healthcare exchange
- Short terms policies.
1. Within ACA healthcare exchange
The ACA healthcare exchange was created during the Obama Administration so that individuals were served a list in the form of an online marketplace. The plans offered by various providers were further divided into the following categories
- Bronze: The holder would pay 40%, and the rest is covered by the plan.
- Silver: The holder would pay 30%
- Gold: the holder would only need to pay 20%
- Platinum: The holder would only need to pay 10%.
- Catastrophic: The holder would have to pay more than 40%.
2. Outside the ACA healthcare exchange
These plans are usually taken by individuals that do not have a group insurance coverage. If they do not, said individuals would have to pay a penalty that increases every year, although individuals seeking insurance wouldn’t necessarily have to pick one out of the ACA exchange.
3. Short-term policies
Individuals who are waiting for their insurance policy to take effect or who are uninsured usually take advantage of this option. But the requirements of short-term policies do not meet the ones set by the ACA healthcare exchange.