Shopping for Florida Health Insurance

    

Whether you’re shopping for individual-, family-, or group health insurance, you are not alone. Trying to find affordable and quality health insurance coverage can be a frustrating and difficult task for the consumer.
More than 42 million Americans are trapped in the healthcare crisis facing the entire United States. Health Insurance Premiums are very high, or even unaffordable, especially in communities where medical costs are high. Exclusions of health insurance coverage due to an existing medical condition are common in individual health insurance policies. Some individual health insurance plans don’t offer coverage for prescription drugs. Many individual health insurance plans don’t offer benefits for maternity, mental health care, or substance abuse.

In order to keep the monthly health insurance premium reasonable priced, it requires high deductibles, co- insurance and co-payments, which means more out-of-pocket expenses for the consumer. When start shopping around for your Florida health insurance plan, look closely at the following advise:

1. Begin by interviewing health insurance agents and find one who offers policies from many different health insurance companies, (broker), who can help and advice the consumers to find the most suitable health insurance plan to fit their budgets and needs. Stay away from a “kept-agent”, (or a career agent), who is hired as an employee by a health insurance company, and is only allowed to sell their specific health insurance plan, with no other options available.
2. Use the A.M. Best’s “Ratings”, to find health insurance companies that are rated at least B+.
3. Examine the co-payments for the different services, and the deductible and co-insurance limits for the hospitalization. Be aware that consumers can be responsible for paying a substantial amount of the hospital bill.
4. After you have chosen a plan, call the Florida health insurance department to find out the financial strength of the health insurance company, if they are licensed to do business in the State of Florida, and if they have many consumer complaints filed against them.

According to Consumer Reports, September 2002, the following is a listing of the highest ranked insurance plans, (PPO’s & HMO’s), in Miami. The ratings are based on the following two research criteria: coverage index and annual premium.

1.“Our coverage index shows the extent of coverage offered by each policy, in relation to a hypothetical benchmark benefits package based on the most extensive set of benefits offered anywhere in our six sample areas. A policy that provides three-quarters of the benefits provided by the benchmark benefits package has a coverage index of 75 percent. Our coverage index calculation is based on the use of services by a typical individual.”
2. “We show the estimated annual premium for two different applicants: an individual, (male, age 42), and a family of four, (husband and wife, both age 42, and two children, 12 and 10). The premium estimates are based on information from the state insurance department, companies rate filings, and internet sites as of January 2002.”


MIAMI-OVERALL RATINGS
Company/Policy Name Plan Type Coverage Index Annual Premium
Individual Family

Preferred Medical/Plan A HMO 87 995 3,173
United Healthcare/Supreme HMO 86 2,530 7,921
Preferred Medical/Plan B HMO 85 1,206 3,922
Foundation/Plan E HMO 84 1,704 5,752
Foundation/Plan C HMO 83 1,691 5,780
Total Healthchoice/10 co-pay HMO 77 1,810 7,221
CeltiCare/Select PPO
80/20 - $500 deductible PPO 74 4,178 13,364
Blue Cross Blue Shield/
Blue Choice, Plan 1 PPO 69 2,189 7,961
CeltiCare/Select PPO
80/20, $1,000 deductible PPO 69 3,620 11,634
United Healthcare/Superior HMO 67 1,815 5,669
Golden Rule/Plan 80 PPO 65 3,239 10,757
Golden Rule/Copay 25 Plan
$500 deductible PPO 63 3,804 16,314
Blue Cross Blue Shield/ PPO 61 1,850 6,708
Blue Choice Plan 2
Blue Cross Blue Shield/ PPO 48 1,012 3,521
Dimension IV

For a FREE insurance consultation, please contact Eva Maria Karlsson,
@ 754-234-HEAL (4325), This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , or visit www.affordablehealthfla.com.
“We’ll shop around for you!”

    

Written by Maria Karlsson
Saturday, 07 July 2007 01:54
Last Updated on Saturday, 14 February 2009 19:07