Ohio Health Insurance Coverage

What is Ohio individual and family health insurance?

Ohio health insurance is a type of coverage that is made available to individuals and families, rather than to employer groups or organizations. Given the option, most people would prefer to have their employer provide group medical health insurance coverage. But, if this is not an option for you, it is still important to seek coverage. You may be pleasantly surprised with the variety and affordability of the ohio family health insurance options available.

What kinds of individual and family insurance policies are available?

Individual and family health insurance policies are usually described as either "indemnity" or "managed-care" plans. Put broadly, the major differences concern choice of healthcare providers, out-of-pocket costs and how bills are paid. Typically, indemnity policies offer a broader selection of healthcare providers than managed care plans. Indemnity policies pay their share of the costs for covered services only after they receive a bill (which means that you may have to pay up front and then obtain reimbursement from your health insurance company). There are several different types of managed-care family and individual health insurance plans. These include HMO, PPO, and POS plans. Managed-care plans typically make use of healthcare provider networks. Healthcare providers within a network agree to perform services for managed-care plan patients at pre-negotiated rates and will usually submit the claim to the insurance company for you. In general, you'll have less paperwork and lower out-of-pocket costs with a managed care health insurance plan and a broader choice of healthcare providers with an indemnity policy.

How does a PPO plan work?

As a member of a PPO (Preferred Provider Organization) plan, you'll be encouraged to use the insurance company's network of preferred doctors and hospitals. These healthcare providers have been contracted to provide services to the health insurance plan's members at a discounted rate. You typically won't be required to pick a primary care physician but will be able to see doctors and specialists within the network at your own discretion.

You will probably have an annual deductible to pay before the insurance company starts covering your medical bills. You may also have a co-payment for certain services or be required to cover a certain percentage of the total charges for your medical bills.

With a PPO plan, services rendered by an out-of-network physician are typically covered at a lower percentage than services rendered by a network physician.

We would like to caution you against applying for a "mini-med" insurance plan. These are plans that happen to be much less expensive than a comprehensive major medical plan and so it is easy to sell a plan such as this to a prospective client. Unfortunately, these plans will not provide any of the benefits that you would expect from an insurance plan. It is so easy for an independent agent to sell this plan because of its low cost, however what they are failing to tell you is the lack of benefits as mentioned above. Whenever searching for a medical insurance plan we would encourage you to ask your agent for the plan benefits and what they include and do not include. Should you have any concerns please don't hesitate to contact us.