Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, February 14, 1993 TAG: 9302120253
SECTION: INSURANCE PAGE: INS-13 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
HEALTH INSURANCE INFORMATION
Coverage for the financial cost of illness and accident is one of the most important forms of protection an individual or family can have. Most people have health insurance through their jobs. But some people have no coverage. And others may have inadequate benefits.If you want to buy a complete health insurance package, or supplement on-the-job coverage, here's what you should know:
TYPES OF HEALTH INSURANCE
Basic health insurance covers part or all of the costs associated with hospitalization, surgery, and medical care, often up to a yearly or lifetime dollar limit.
Major medical insurance, sometimes called catastrophic insurance is usually designed to pick up where basic health insurance leaves off, provides protection against the financial costs of major or long-term illness. It comes with deductibles and co-payment features, which help you keep costs down. You may elect to pay a larger share of your yearly costs, in exchange for reducing the premium you pay. With co-payment or co-insurance, you pay a portion, often 20 percent, of costs up to a specified level.
Hospital indemnity policies, often sold by mail or through associations, provide direct cash benefits when you are hospitalized. These policies do not provide comprehensive coverage but can be helpful; in supplementing other coverage and covering out-of-pocket expenses. Bear in mind, however, that these policies provide benefits only while you are hospitalized and only after a specified number of days.
Disability income policies provide you with an income, usually a percentage of your customary incomes, should you be disabled by accident or illness and therefore unable to work. You may have some disability coverage on the job, and you may be eligible for Social security disability benefits as well. But if these benefits won't protect your family should you be out of work for an extended period, consider an individual disability income policy as well. You can keep premium costs down by electing to wait 30 or even 90 days before benefits begin. But be sure to select a policy that covers both accident and illness, and one that pays benefits at least to age 65.
So-called dread disease policies, applying only to the costs of a specific illness such as cancer, are generally not a necessary purchase. It's preferable to improve your overall health insurance overage, spending your premium dollars on better comprehensive benefits rather than concentrating on one disease.
Medicare supplements are insurance policies designed to fill some of Medicare's coverage gaps for older people. There are a number of such policies available, typically paying Medicare's deductible and co-insurance amounts, as well as covering some health services not covered by Medicare at all. Contact your local life underwriter association for information bout Senior Citizens life and health insurance counseling.