Health Insurance Plans
HMO Health Insurance Plans
HMOs, or Health Maintenance Organizations, offer health care from a network of health care providers. HMOs tend to have respectable premiums and deductibles, but offer limited flexibility for choosing doctors and hospitals. Under an HMO plan, you need a referral from your primary care physician to see a specialist and you may have to pay 100% of cost if you see a doctor out-of-network.
PPO Health Insurance Plans
PPOs, or Preferred Provider Organizations, also have affordable premiums and deductibles – however, they offer more flexibility to see any doctor you want and don’t require a referral from your primary care physician to see a specialist (as is required from an HMO). Under a PPO, out-of-network costs are covered, but at a lower rate than in-network costs.
High Deductible Health Care Plans
High Deductible Health Plans, tend to have lower premiums than both HMOs and PPOs, but much higher deductibles. Deductibles are the out-of-pocket expenses you have to pay before insurance starts to cover you. You can use an HSA to lessen the financial burden of covering the high deductibles. These plans generally have similar flexibility to PPO plans.
Health Savings Account
HSAs, or Health Savings Accounts, are growing in popularity for a variety of reasons. Though they may not be for everyone, if you can afford to put up the money up front, you can benefit from tax savings, and people typically save a decent chunk of money when all is said and done because they don’t have to pay the expensive premiums.