Buying Insurance

Lesson 6: Health Insurance

So What Is Covered?

What exactly do personal health insurance plans cover? That is the 64 dollar question to which there is no simple or comprehensive answer. Most major medical health insurance plans cover most common diseases and maladies. There are two important questions for you to ask. (1) What is specifically excluded? That is what diseases, maladies, conditions, or treatments will the policy absolutely not cover? (2) To what extent is the disease, malady or condition covered? In other words, if you are discovered to have cancer, will the policy pay for your first two days in the hospital, or for an unlimited stay. Are drugs and therapies covered as long as needed, or just up to a certain dollar amount? Is there a total dollar cap on how much the policy will pay? Also be advised that most health insurance plans either exclude, or place severe restrictions on, payments for mental illness and chiropractic care. Additionally, payment for non-traditional therapies such as acupuncture and chelation are likely also to be excluded or severely restricted. (Buyer beware:read the policy thoroughly before you sign). For further tips on how to guage the best health insurance plan, see Hungelmann, p.233.

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