Thursday, January 1, 2009

How To Find Out If Your Texas Health Insurance Meets Your Needs

By Jordan FeRoss

Living in Texas, in order to choose the right health insurance, you need to know what they cover. It doesn't do you any good to get health insurance in Texas and you don't know what you're getting. If you're looking for cheap insurance, that can defeat the purpose of you having quality health care. It is very important that you have the services you need available in the plan that you choose.

You need to take the time to evaluate all of your options before making a decision you will have to live with for at least a year. You want to make sure that you choose a plan for health insurance in Texas that suits your needs as well as the needs of your family and fits within your budget both in terms of the premiums and the out-of-pocket costs you will incur throughout the year.

Be sure to read all the fine print of your plan. While it seems tedious, the few bullet points provided as an overview do not tell you enough about the plan's specifics for you to make an informed decision. For instance a phrase like "low deductible" is a relative term. You may find when you start reading the policy that the deductible is far more than you can afford or that your prescriptions are not included in the deductible. This is especially important if you are choosing individual health insurance in Texas. If you are working through your employer for your insurance needs, your human resources manager and the insurer's representative will be useful to you while you are deciding whether or not to participate in the company plan.

You also want to check into the "what ifs". You need to know what will happen if you use a doctor that is not in the plan's network. Will you be able to visit them? Will you have to pay more? These are things that should be listed in the information you receive and if not, you need to ask for it. What about emergency situations? If you are on vacation and get injured will you be able to get care at the local ER or will you have to pay for it yourself? You want to know all the details before you decide on the right plan of health insurance in Texas for you.

Geography is also a consideration as you research health insurance in Texas. If there are no participating doctors or hospitals near where you live or work, it can make it difficult to make appointments and mean more costly ambulance rides if there is serious injury or illness and a few seconds in travel time can make all the difference when it comes to receiving timely treatment. Know where your providers are and the location of the hospital near you to compare them with the in-network facilities of the insurer you're considering. This may affect your decision.

Your health insurance plan in Texas is responsible for explaining your rights as a patient and as being part of the health insurance plan itself. The plan should have in writing about keeping your medical records confidential from the public. You'll want to know how they do that and when do they actually release information about the person. Find out what they're policies are about doctors sharing information with you. There may be a policy where the doctor can only issue so many referrals a year. Do you have to get a referral to get a second opinion? All of this is important because it factors in to whether or not this heath insurance is for you.

The health insurance plan should also include an appeals and grievances process. If you don't feel your health care has been up to par, then you should have the right to acknowledge that. Find out the solutions available that can resolve problems when insured people are dissatisfied with their health care provider. Since you're spending the money for health insurance in Texas, you should know the entire process of this scenario. - 15485

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