Health Insurance Benefits
When people talk about health insurance benefits they are generally referring to the services, medical procedures and treatments covered by their chosen health insurance provider. These benefits can range from very basic through to comprehensive coverage and depend to a large extent on the type of policy bought and the amount paid for it.
Employee health insurance benefits are normally much more comprehensive than those provided by a similarly priced individual plan. So for example, health insurance employee benefits often include the following as standard:
- Medical bills including emergency treatment, doctor’s appointments, x-rays and scans.
- Prescription medications.
- Dental appointments and basic dentistry work, for example preventative and tooth decay treatments.
- Optometrist’s appointments, glasses and lenses. Some health benefit insurance plans also cover contact lenses for those who can’t wear glasses.
- Alternative and complementary therapies. Admittedly some states don’t recognize these types of therapies as being an insurance product however more and more are starting to include them as a legitimate health insurance benefit.
These five common employee health insurance benefits normally cover the employee and their immediate family, which makes them a very beneficial to have.
In comparison, an individual health insurance plan might have dental, vision and alternative therapies as supplemental products. This means that they have to be added separately and paid for as an addition before they are classed as one of your health insurance benefits. In addition, as the name suggests, individual plans only cover the insured person, which means a family plan is needed for everyone to have health benefits insurance.
Two popular health insurance benefits that are also classed as supplemental products are catastrophic insurance and guaranteed issue insurance.
Catastrophic insurance is additional coverage designed to pay for extreme hospital bills and medical treatments, for example emergency surgery, intensive care and long term hospital stays. Similarly guaranteed-issue insurance covers any treatment you need for pre-existing conditions – many of which aren’t covered by a traditional health insurance plan.
These two types of insurance are rarely, if ever, included as part of an employee health insurance benefits plan and so can only be bought as separate products. The benefits they provide are well worth looking in to though, and especially if you have family members who aren’t covered by your other policies.
Health insurance benefits differ from state to state and from one insurance provider to another so anyone looking for coverage should research the available plan thoroughly before making that all important decision.