Catastrophic health insurance coverage is not the right coverage for everyone, but on the other hand, it is an excellent choice for the right people. It is exactly what it sounds like, a health insurance plan that is designed to protect you against a catastrophe. It is a fee for service plan that in exchange for lower monthly premiums, this form of health insurance has significantly higher deductibles than traditional health insurance programs. It does not cover routine doctor’s visits or prescriptions. It does give you the peace of mind that if you are involved in a major accident that requires a visit to the emergency room, a ride in the ambulance, a surgical procedure or any other major medical treatment that you will not be stuck paying the whole bill. In the unfortunate event of any of these major medical treatments being needed, you will have to pay only your deductible and the percentage of the bill that was specified in the catastrophic health insurance coverage paperwork.
Types of Catastrophic Health Insurance Coverage
There are two types of catastrophic health insurance coverage: supplemental and comprehensive. A comprehensive catastrophic health insurance program has benefits similar to those seen in traditional health insurance programs. The catastrophic health insurance coverage will have a higher deductible than other health insurance plans and lower monthly premium payments, but in most cases has lower coverage percentages for routine medical care. This translates to more expensive routine visits to the doctor’s office, but a big savings for someone who does not visit the doctor often.
Supplemental catastrophic health insurance coverage is designed to be used in conjunction with another, more comprehensive health insurance program. This type of health insurance plan typically helps with the cost of nursing care, psychiatric care or necessary medical appliances or devices. Like comprehensive catastrophic health insurance coverage, any major medical expense that is deemed necessary is likely to be covered under this type of insurance. Some examples of major medical expenses are surgeries, lab tests or intensive care. Like most traditional health insurance plans, neither form of catastrophic health insurance coverage will pay claims for elective medical treatments that are not needed.
Is Catastrophic Health Insurance Coverage Right For You?
Catastrophic health insurance coverage is extremely popular with some groups of people. It is very a very common choice for someone who is self-employed or someone who is not offered health insurance through their employer. It is also a very popular choice for low-income families and individuals as a way of safeguarding themselves against major medical expenses in the case of a medical emergency. Just because it is popular with these groups of people does not mean that it really is ideal for them. The ideal candidate for using catastrophic health insurance coverage is a healthy individual who has no chronic or pre-existing medical conditions and either no monthly prescriptions or very few. This type of health insurance is not a good choice for those who do have a chronic condition or pre-existing condition that requires frequent medical care or visits to a doctor. People who have many monthly prescriptions or require medical supplies of any type on a monthly basis are not ideal candidates for catastrophic health insurance coverage either. Maternity care is another benefit that can cause some problems with catastrophic health insurance coverage. While it usually is a covered benefit, it is also commonly excluded from the benefits for up to one year after the beginning of the policy.
Just like all health insurance policies, it is important to read all of the provided information about the policy and ask questions to make sure that you know what the coverage is and understand how the policy works before purchasing it. Catastrophic health insurance coverage is a great addition to the plans offered by health insurance companies because there is a real need and a real demand for this type of health insurance program. Before you purchase catastrophic health insurance coverage for yourself to take advantage of the low monthly premiums, make sure that you know what you are getting yourself into. The deductibles are sometimes as high as five thousand dollars for an individual policy. You will need to have access to that type of money in the event that a catastrophe occurs and you need to use the coverage. If you are the type of person who is healthy all year except for during cold and flu season when you visit the doctor’s office every other week, this type of coverage may not be as beneficial as a traditional health insurance plan. However, if you are that healthy person who sees their doctor once or twice per year for regular checkups and seldom gets sick, you should definitely check into the benefits that catastrophic health insurance coverage may be able to offer you.
