Benefits Of Indemnity Health Insurance Plans

Indemnity health insurance plans
are more regularly known as
traditional health insurance plans.
This type of plan can work out costly
but will often cover most health
problems that may arise, while other
insurance plans exclude some illnesses
or diseases from their coverage. Some
disadvantages to indemnity plans are
that they do not usually cover
preventative health care items such
as physicals, and traditional health
insurance plans often cover only a
percentage of your bill. To best
understand the advantages and
disadvantages of indemnity health
insurance do some research when
considering your options.

While the disadvantages may seem problematic, these can be offset by a number of advantages that indemnity health insurance plans have to offer. You may have a higher monthly premium and you may need to pay upfront costs and submit claims paperwork, but your deductible will be more manageable and your coverage will be wider. Some health insurance plans will not cover certain medical expenses or care, but indemnity plans often do.

One of the major benefits of indemnity health insurance plans is the freedom to choose your own doctor and hospital when you are seeking health care. While other health insurance plans offered by the insurance industry limit your choice of physicians and hospitals to a list of preferred providers, indemnity insurance will cover any physician or hospital. This benefit may seem unworthy of mention, but there has been more than one instance where a mother finds that her son or daughter's pediatrician is not in their preferred provider network and has to search for another pediatrician. This also means that you can see a specialist without having to consult with your primary care physician first. Indemnity plans are considered fee-for-service health insurance plans. This means that you have the freedom to choose your health care services and as long as your services are eligible you will be charged a fee depending on how your policy rules are written.

There are certain things to remember when considering an indemnity health plan.

There may be a deductible. This is the amount you are required to pay before the benefits of the policy are provided. If your health care charges are covered, or eligible for payment under the policy, the deductible will apply.

After the deductible, there may be a co-payment. This is a percentage that you are required to pay of the remaining charges after your deductible. As an example - If your eligible charges are $1000 and there is a $200 deductible, this leaves $800. If your co-payment is 20% that leaves 20% of the remaining $800 to pay, which is $160.

You often have the choice of doctor or hospital with few limitations.

Some indemnity health insurance plans do not cover preventative services. These can include yearly check ups and other routine visits that are designed to prevent illness. Also, these services may not count towards your deductible.

Overall, indemnity health insurance plans offer you the best emergency medical coverage in the industry. While preferred provider organizations (PPOs) or point-of-service (POS) plans limit the physician you can see to a list of network physicians and hospitals, the freedom of choosing any physician is nationwide with indemnity health insurance plans. This means that if you are traveling across the country and have an accident or a medical emergency, you can go to the nearest hospital or see the closest physician without worrying about the expense. There have been instances where hospitals or physicians will either refuse to treat patients or treat them only minimally because the hospital or physician is not inside the plan's preferred provider network - meaning that the patient's health insurance will only cover a small part of the expense and the patient is liable to pay the rest of the bill. This is a risky financial situation for the physician and/or hospital since patients are often unable to fully pay costly medical bills. With indemnity health insurance plans, this is almost never the case. Consider this and the other benefits of indemnity health insurance when choosing the plan that is right for you.


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