In the current Arizona health insurance market not all insurance carriers or their insurance policies are equal. Though price is always a factor, it is important to understand what benefits those premiums are giving you and at what cost. Let’s examine three major components of an Arizona health insurance plan; co-pay, deductible and co-insurance. Understanding how you might be able to manipulate these three components will make any budget conscious insurance buyer a savvy shopper.
Many people like to have the peace of mind knowing that they can access their doctor for a co-pay. Co-pays are the amount a person pays directly to their doctor for regular office visits. The co-pay can range in cost from $10 to $50 dollars depending on the plan. These types of visits can be for many routine type office visits such as, physicals, sickness, and regular checkups. Knowing what the policy will actually cover is important because some plans do not pay for all types of office visits and have different co-pays for different types of doctors; some even limit the number of visits subject to just the co-pay. If you are the type of person who does not go to the doctor very often, going without this policy provision could potentially save you $100 or more in monthly premium. When selecting a plan, you should always balance the probable need for covered services against the monthly and annual cost.
Another important policy provision is the annual deductible. Your policy will explain what services are subject to the deductible and which are subject only to the co-pays. Your annual deductible is the amount you are required to contribute to your own health care costs before the insurance policy starts to pay anything for certain policy provisions such as inpatient and outpatient treatment. The higher the deductible the lower your premiums will be and vice-versa.
Coinsurance can be very confusing to may people. It is the amount you and the insurance company agree to pay for covered services after the deductible has been met. A very common coinsurance amount is 80/20. This means that after you pay the deductibles the insurance company would pay 80% and you would pay 20% of the remainder of the bill up to a specified out of pocket maximum. The most important part of any insurance plan is your out of pocket maximum. Some insurance carriers do not have a maximum out of pocket which means they will only pay a percentage of the cost and you will pay the rest no limits. The best Arizona health insurance plans will have both individual and family out of pocket maximums. Just like the deductible, the more co-insurance you are willing to agree to, the lower your insurance premium will be.
You can use this information when using an internet insurance quote search engine. You can manipulate these three components to find the balance between cost and benefit and a premium you can live with. To use these concepts you can go to
my website at www.AZHealthNow.com and complete the quote form and get an instant on line quote.
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