An Introduction To Major Medical Insurance

By Author: Donald Saunders
Total Articles: 84
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Major medical insurance coverage is the term used to refer to one particular type of what is usually referred to nowadays as fee-for-service or indemnity health insurance.

Escalating health costs in recent years mean that we are increasingly moving away from traditional types of health insurance and the original indemnity health insurance plan is rapidly being replaced by a variety of other plans including HMO (health maintenance organization) plans, PPO (preferred provider organization) plans and POS (point of service) plans.

Basically indemnity health insurance plans are designed to cover unforeseen medical expenses resulting from injury and illness and give policy holders extensive freedom in selecting where treatment is sought and by whom such treatment is given. Fee-for-service policy holders are also generally responsible for making payment for treatment and for then claiming back the cost from their insurer.

By contrast newer plans focus much more upon routine health care with the aim of avoiding unnecessary costs by keeping policy holders in good health and identifying problems at an early stage ...
... when they are hopefully simple to deal with. These plans simplify administration for policy holders but at the same time take away a lot of the freedom to decide from whom and where treatment can be received.

The majority of people nowadays are covered by the newer types of health insurance rather than by traditional indemnity plans mainly not only because of their lower cost but also because there is far less administration when it comes to making claims on your policy. Additionally, a rising number of companies who offer group health insurance plans for their employees are also picking these newer types of plan. Nevertheless, there is still a significant number of people who prefer the freedom of choice which a fee-for-service policy allows them and it is here where you might like to think about major medical insurance coverage.

Fee-for-service policies provide three types of coverage; basic health insurance, major medical insurance and comprehensive insurance.

Basic health insurance policies will vary from one insurer to the next but will commonly cover treatment in hospital (including room and board), some hospital services (such as x-rays and medication), surgery (whether done in hospital or at another suitable surgical center) and some doctors visits.

Major medical insurance policies by contrast are designed to cover the treatment of high cost and long-term illnesses and injuries as well as in and out-patient expenses associated with such illnesses and injuries.

Comprehensive cover is simply a policy which includes both basic and major medical coverage.

Not surprisingly major medical insurance is a very popular choice as most people are quite happy to bear the day to day expense of health care but are worried about what they would do in the event of a major accident or illness which might involve substantial medical expense which might drag on for months or years.

Unfortunately, the security and choice provided by major medical insurance is reflected in the cost of indemnity policies generally and thus it is increasingly becoming an option which many people would like to select but one which is simply too expensive.