The health insurance industry has a lot of complicated terminology. Those who understand the terminology can get the best healthcare coverage. What are the key advantages of double coverage health insurance?
What is Double Coverage?
There are many tiers of quality for healthcare coverage. The top tier allows you to choose any doctor, pay for preventative care, prescription drugs and the full cost of the most expensive medical procedures. This healthcare coverage does not leave any stone unturned.
On the opposite end is the individual with no healthcare coverage. Right above him is the lowest tier coverage. This is basically catastrophic healthcare coverage; if you have an emergency, then you will have some medical procedures covered.
High Deductible
Another factor for healthcare coverage is the deductible. A low deductible is the best coverage because any medical costs will quickly go over the threshold and the health insurance will kick in.
If you are trying to save some money on healthcare premiums, then you will have a high deductible. Unfortunately, you will be forced to pay more out-of-pocket medical costs with a high deductible. It might take a long time for you to even reach your deductible.
Many individuals will hold off on seeing their doctor until the end of the year when they pass their deductible. The healthcare policy will pay for these visits, so the individual at least gets a little bit of preventative care.
Double Coverage Benefits
A husband and wife might work for different companies, which provide them with great healthcare policies. In this case, the family members might be covered by two different healthcare policies. Therefore, they have double coverage health insurance.
Under the double coverage, the insured has the right to be paid by both insurance providers. Of course, this doubles the benefits that can be gained from healthcare coverage.
Primary & Secondary Coverage
The other benefit of having double coverage from different providers is freedom to choose. Each policy is likely to have their own network of doctors. Therefore, the family members have a lot more freedom to choose the best doctors.
The wisest plan might be for the parents to schedule a general visits to one doctor from each network. Then dad and mom can compare the medical service. This also might encourage competition between the doctors.
If the doctors know that you are still deciding on your primary care giver, then they have more of an incentive to deliver the best care. You can also compare the medical bills. What do the doctors charge for different services? What preventative care is offered?
The health insurance industry uses the “birthday rule” for families with double coverage. The primary coverage is from the parent with the first birthday in the calendar year.
With double healthcare coverage, the family members get to make more decisions. And, the insurance provider pays most of the bill. Double coverage might provide the best of both worlds.
Jim Treebold is a North Carolina based writer. He lives by the mantra of “Learn 1 new thing each day”! Jim loves to write, read, pedal around on his electric bike and dream of big things. Drop him a line if you like his writing, he loves hearing from his readers!