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Friday, December 28, 2018

By Sandra Perry


Provision of healthcare services is a major challenge for individual patients, families and even entire countries in general. The main reasons for this is that medical emergencies are not just hugely unpredictable but are also quite expensive to treat. Not many people can afford to pay for healthcare out of pocket every time they are taken ill hence the need to pool resources by taking up insurance cover. There are several things relating to health insurance Midland TX residents may wish to know.

A health insurance plan allows an insured individual to be cautioned against the high expenses associated with illnesses and medical conditions. The condition to be fulfilled by the insured individual is that they must pay premiums either regularly or as a lump sum. The extent of benefits that one can enjoy are dependent on the amount of premium that one pays.

One of the commonest arrangements in insurance is where payments are made directly to the service provider once the services have been rendered. This requires that the invoice be sent to the insurer once the insured has been treated and verification of service delivery has been conducted. Another form of compensation involves reimbursement of the insured once they present evidence of healthcare expenditure.

Insurance companies are business entities and hence are, in most cases profit driven. They focus on minimizing costs incurred and maximizing on returns. This is achieved through a number of ways. For instance, they will negotiate for lower charges with service providers such as hospitals and clinics. At the same time, they will limit the amount that clients spend through capitation.

Another strategy commonly employed by insurance companies is the use of exclusion criteria. This means that some conditions will be covered while others will. Expensive non essential procedures such as cosmetic surgeries are usually excluded. Some companies also place an age limit on potential clients such that senior citizens are excluded due to their increased risk of suffering from chronic diseases.

With regard to payment of premiums, there are a number of ways through which this can be done. The common practice is for remittances to be made by employers on behalf of their employees. Many companies often include attractive medical benefits as part of the package bring offered to potential employees. In some countries, the main insurer is the government and may provide some form of cover for the entire population or just for a few vulnerable citizens.

The insurer will pay the entire cost or just a part of it such that the remainder is met by the insured. This is also known as coinsurance and is usually worked out as a percentage. For instance the insurer may pay 80% of the total with the patient taking care of 20%. This is slightly different from co-payment in which the policy holder is required to pay a certain fixed amount of money before they can benefit from any service.

Whenever a service is utilized, the entire cost or just a fraction of It is met by the insurer. This is what is termed coinsurance. The proportions are usually in form of percentage s such as the insurer paying for 80% and the insured settling the remaining 20%. Co-payment is a similar concept in which a policy holder makes an upfront fixed payment before they utilize a service.




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