While there are various types of health insurance plan to choose from these days, many individuals still preferred the indemnity health insurance plans. What is an indemnity health insurance plan and what benefits offered by such plan? Keep reading this article.
Perhaps a simple explanation to the indemnity health insurance plan is that you, as a policyholder, have the freedom to select any doctor and hospital any time you want to use the services provided by your insurer. In short, you are not restricted to a certain physician or hospital, and you can move to a different provider when and if you choose.
Indemnity health insurance plans are generally known as traditional health insurance plans. This type of health insurance plan is generally pricey yet often cover almost all medical care bills which you may need to pay in future, while other health insurance plans exclude some diseases or illnesses from their policy. You may have to pay a higher monthly premium and even charged upfront fees as well as send claims paperwork to the insurer, however, your deductible amount would be more manageable and most importantly your insurance coverage would be wider.
As mentioned, one of the most advantages of indemnity health insurance plan is that it gives you the freedom to select your own doctor. This means your insurer will cover any personal doctor and also hospital you choose unlike other health insurance plans which may limit your options. This also means that it is possible to see a medical specialist without needing to consult with your personal doctor first. What's more, indemnity health insurance plans typically operate nationwide. So if you have an accident or a medical emergency when traveling across the country, you can go to the closest medical center or visit the nearest doctor without having to worry about the expenses. Although this benefit may not seem worth mentioning, yet there are many cases where an insured individual finds that his or her physician isn't in his preferred provider network and therefore he or she need to find another physician. Also, there have been cases where hospitals would either decline to take care of patients or treat them only minimally simply because the hospital isn't inside the plan's preferred provider network. As a consequence, your insurer will only cover a small part of the expense and you will be liable to pay the rest of the bill. This can be a risky financial situation for you due to the skyrocketing medical care costs. On the contrary, the case would never have happened when you have an indemnity health insurance plan.
Besides the cost of an indemnity health insurance plan can be pricey, another biggest disadvantages of indemnity plans is that they don't usually cover preventive health care like physicals. In addition, this type of plan often covers only a percentage of the bill claimed. Even though these disadvantages might seem problematic, however, the flexibility and freedom for you to choose your preferred doctor and/or hospital make an indemnity health insurance plan is worth considering.