Save Money On Health Insurance - Save On Blue Cross Blue Shield Insurance

The primary difference between HMO and the PPO plan is the HMO plan provides a select group of doctors and hospitals available to the employee. The PPO usually allows a greater flexibility in physician and hospital choice. The HMO plan will always be the least expensive plan available. Normally the HMO plan will also provide the employee and family with the lowest level of deductible and co-pay options. The reason is an insurer can contract with a specific group or individual hospital at a better price than with a larger group.

Another option is A Doctor Select Plan which sometimes is labeled a special PPO plan. The difference between a PPO and a Doctor Select Plan is the employee can select any doctor or hospital they choose not just the physicians and hospitals within the select PPO or HMO plans. This plan will cost the employer and employee the most.

Employee plans are very expensive and costs are escalating. One of the main reasons an employee sponsored plan is expensive is guaranteed issue. No employee under a group plan can be denied coverage. Insurance companies price up the plans to cover all possible conditions and then further price the plan based upon a workup of each employee health history. When a plan is renewed the insurer further prices the plan based upon plan experience and general cost of living increases.

Because of these constant cost increases many businesses are offering less and less options to the employee and increasing plan deductibles and co-pay programs in an effort to curtail costs. We are also witnessing companies canceling employee coverage as costs increase. We believe this trend will continue and more individuals will be required to buy private insurance or cover the full cost of an employee plan.

The next plan type and what this guide is all about is purchasing private coverage for you and your family and coverage for Self Employed individuals.

Most of us are not fortunate to work for a company that offers a health plan. Or if we do we have to cover the cost of our family which as discussed above is an ever increasing cost and in many cases the coverage options even with a group plan continue to be reduced or in some cases eliminated.

If you are one of the more than 80 million that are not covered by a group plan your only options are to buy a private plan or go without.

Obviously, the much better option would be to learn how to save money on health insurance.

COBRA or the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act was passed to help assure that all individuals and their families have access to group medical insurance for a period usually up to 18 months after an individual leaves their employer if they were covered under a group health plan.

The coverage remains exactly the same as the coverage the individual had with the company and there are no health qualification requirements to continue with COBRA coverage. Upon exit your prior employer is required to provide you with information regarding COBRA and how to apply for the program. T
he cost, however, is an eye opener. You will be charged the full cost of the plan you were in while employed. In most cases the costs will be many times your contribution level while employed. Many of you are currently on COBRA coverage and are either at the end of the qualification period or cannot afford the premiums and are now looking at private health insurance as a replacement. This guide will help you evaluate that process.

Looking for individual health coverage is not for the faint of hart and we recommend you work with an expert. The only problem is most times you will be forced to go through a number of company representatives and most reps have one specific plan that they sell.

It is almost impossible for you as a layperson to compare plan comparisons except by premium costs, deductibles, and co-pays. An agent will always downplay any other plan and gloss over the real hidden holes in the plan they are trying to get you to buy. We have also found this to be true of Brokers that claim to allow you to choose any plan.

We have a blog site that you can use to send us questions or if you like we will be happy to help you evaluate plans. We have a chapter that guides you through three completely different plans as an example of the questions you will need to be clear about before applying for a plan.
The blog can be found here:

How To Save Money On Health Insurance

We always recommend looking at a variety of options and today you can actually get a good handle by going to a site such as ehealthinsurance.com and select some that make sense then let us know and we can advise you regarding the good and not so good with each plan.