Understanding Supplemental Health Insurance
Unless you are extremely fortunate, your health plan probably does not cover everything you want it to. Whether that gap falls in the area of dental, vision, income protection or the coverage offered by Medicare, the costs of having to pay for healthcare you are not covered for can add up quickly.
Supplemental health insurance plans are designed to plug those coverage gaps. They allow you to customize your health insurance to suit your needs. For instance, if you are the only wage earner in your household, an income protection plan might be practical. If there is a history of cancer in your family, purchasing a cancer insurance policy might be a prudent idea.
Why You Might Need Supplemental Health Insurance
Does your current plan require a high yearly deductible (the amount you pay before your insurance covers the bills)? Expensive co-payments? Does it provide little reimbursement in the area you need help (dental, vision, etc.)? A supplemental health plan may be what you need.
Consider a supplemental health plan if:
- You have substantial savings or assets (a small business, etc.) that you need to protect.
- You don't have disability insurance coverage.
- You have a family history of heart disease, cancer or other serious chronic illnesses.
- You're a member of an HMO that doesn't cover out-of-network services.
- Your family doesn't have an emergency fund that could cover three months worth of household expenses.
What Kinds of Supplemental Health Insurance Plans Are There?
- Dental Insurance: Provides coverage for your preventative dental care needs, dental X-rays and the treatment of dental-related issues.
- Vision Insurance: Provides coverage for optometrists visits, eyeglasses, contact lenses and eye-care products.
- Cancer Insurance: Will cover the costs associated with cancer treatments as well as other related expenses, including: chemotherapy, surgery, radiation, anesthesia, and preventative care.
- Critical Condition Insurance: Will provide you with whats known as lump sum benefits to help pay your out-of-pocket expenses after a heart attack, stroke, heart surgery, cancer episode, or similar sudden illness.
- Income Protection: Provides benefits that will provide you with income if you were to become totally or partially disabled. It may also provide a daily benefit if youýre hospitalized for a covered illness.
- Emergency Recovery Insurance: Will provide benefits for outpatient treatments for covered conditions (in-patient hospitalization, emergency room treatment, intensive care, outpatient surgery, recovery care, etc).
- Long Term Care Insurance: Covers the costs of various long-term care issues (nursing home care, assisted living facilities, home healthcare, custodial home care, adult day care, bed reservation, respite and hospice care, emergency response care, caregiver training, cost-of-living adjustments, etc.).
- Medicare Supplement Insurance: Mainly for those aged 65 and over, and participating in Medicare. There are a variety of standardized health plans designed to supplement expenses that are not covered by Medicare.
What options are available in Illinois?
There are plenty of Medicare options available from a plethora of companies available in Illinois. We reccomend Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois for your medigap needs because all the plans are basically the same regardless of company, they don't vary much in price and most importantly BCBSIL is going to be around for the rest of your life. That is important because you don't want to have to deal with your company not being there later in life.
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