Individual or family health insurance is also commonly known as personal health insurance. Family health insurance is where you, your spouse and your children are all included in the same plan. Someone who is self-employed or his/her employer does not provide insurance benefits to the employees, this type of policy can be purchased for oneself and the family.
So if you have a pre-exisitng medical condition and you lose your insurance, what are you supposed to do? You may have heard of guaranteed issue health insurance. Companies that offer these policies brag that no matter what health conditions you are suffering from, they will cover you. But there are several things that you should know about guaranteed issue health insurance. These plans are not true insurance, and do not cover every medical treatment that you would need. They are still much better than nothing, are affordable, and have been lifesavers for many patients, but you should educate yourself about guaranteed issue health insurance plans before you purchase one.
If you cannot get coverage because of a pre-existing condition, the first thing that you should look into is a state insurance risk pool. Not every state has a program like this, but those states that do allow people who suddenly lose their health care coverage to continue it. If you have been uninsured for over 63 days, you can still sign up for these risk pool programs, but you may have to wait for anywhere from 6 to 12 before your pre-existing conditions will be covered.
Group health insurance may provide better benefits but some people can't get this because they are self-employed or work in a small company, or they can't enjoy COBRA benefits or for some other reasons. So people under these categories have to resort to individual health insurance; that is they buy their own insurance.
Many insurance companies offer this product to individuals but if a person is over 50 years old, he might face some problems, the reasons are
• If his health is not in good condition, the insurance companies will not take the risk to insure him. But the thing is, how many people can maintain a good health up to this age
• The applicant might have to undergo a medical exam to prove that he is insurable
• The applicant might get fewer benefits
Your plan will promise to pay up to a certain dollar amount of your treatments; for instance, a typical plan will pay up to $1,000 a day of hospital bills for the first 100 days you spend in the hospital. For your first day of hospital admission, they will pay an additional $2,000 in charges. They will also cover $1,000 in additional charges for the first 15 days you spend in intensive care. It does not matter how much the doctor charges or which hospital you go to; these programs just promise to pay a pre-designated amount.
