An individual health insurance plan specifically is provided to self-employed and unemployed individuals. The term Individual does not actually refer to insurance provided to one person but rather it means that a company or employer does not pay part of the bill.
If someone pays the complete premium of a family plan, then such coverage will be considered as ‘individual’. Rates of these plans will always be more expensive than group plans. Group plans are generally lower reason being the participating companies buy many plans from an insurance company and the employer pays some part of the premium for employees.
Individual health insurance plans and group market plans, both of them offer the same type of alternatives. Such as:
- Health maintenance organization plans (HMO)
- Preferred Provider organization (PPO)
- Point-of-service (POS)
Individual plans are generally only suggested to those people devoid of the group plan alternative. Sometimes paying for the cheap health insurance may only end up the wastage of the money as you might not get the required level of coverage results. The affordable care act has made the reach of everyone to health plans. To get a hand on affordable health insurance plans consumers are required to take certain things into account. Such as:
- Get yourself well informed about the options in the particular state of the residence. There are numerous state and federal government-run programs that could be appropriate for consumers. Know the options available for you well.
- Understand the terms and conditions of all the programs and verify the eligibility conditions for each of them. Know your rights after the implementation of healthcare reforms and must qualify for a respective program.
If these steps are followed smartly there are no loopholes left and the consumers will definitely get the best, suitable health plan for selves.
