Humana Health Insurance Company is a major player in an industry that has gotten a lot of attention over the past several years. Reports by the media often tend to sway public opinion and cause misconceptions about the industry.
If you don’t have health insurance provided by your employer, you probably don’t think you can afford it. Thankfully, there are a lot of companies like Humana that offer individual health plans these days, and they need to grow their business. This gives you, the consumer, the benefit of a competitive market.
In fact, there are many top health insurance providers just like Humana that offer affordable health insurance plans so be sure and use our free quote finder to compare rates from top companies.
Humana Health Insurance: History
Humana Health Insurance Company was established in 1984. It was launched by Humana Inc., which got its start as Heritage House of America Inc. in 1961. Today their health insurance plans and other products are available in many states and Puerto Rico.
Humana Group Health Insurance Plans
Humana offers a range of products and services. They are probably most well-known for their group health plans and benefit packages including dental, vision, and life insurance options. The introduction of Medicare Part D in 2006 brought the company to the forefront again as a participating provider. However, many people aren’t aware that they also offer individual health insurance plans through Humana One with several options to fit your budget. There are some key terms and concepts that you should be familiar with before you begin shopping for health insurance with this or any insurance provider.
Common Health Insurance Terminology
The deductible is the dollar amount of medical expenses you are responsible for in a calendar year before the company begins paying their part. Once your deductible is met, the company begins to pay their percentage of any additional expenses for the year. This percentage is referred to as coinsurance. There is also an out-of-pocket (OOP) maximum on your coinsurance. Once the OOP maximum is met, the company will pay 100% of all covered expenses for the remainder of the calendar year.
Many deductible and coinsurance options are available to individuals. This is the concept of transferring risk and allows you to determine how much of your medical expenses you are willing to pay for and how much you expect the company to cover. Here’s an example:
Let’s say you choose a plan with a $1,000 deductible and 80/20 coinsurance with an OOP maximum of $2,000. Once you’ve incurred $1,000 in medical expenses, the company will pay for 80% of your remaining expenses for the calendar year. If the remainder of the expenses, your 20% coinsurance, exceeds $2,000, the company starts paying 100% and you pay nothing more.
Not factoring in premiums, the most you would pay out of pocket for covered medical expenses would be $3,000 per year. If you incurred a $10,000 hospital bill, the company would pay a total of $7,000 of the charges. However, if your total covered medical expenses for the year were only $1,500, the company would only end up paying $400 (80% of the $500 over your $1,000 deductible).
Some plans have a co-pay benefit for office visits and prescription drugs. If you choose a plan with an office visit co-pay option, you may use that benefit even before you meet your deductible. Some plans require that a separate deductible is met before you can start using the co-pay benefit for prescription drugs.
Referring to the previous example, if you also have a $35 office visit co-pay, you could go to the doctor and pay only $35 even if your deductible wasn’t met yet. However, if the doctor ordered any lab work or performed any special examinations, these amounts would be subject to your deductible and coinsurance. Dental and life insurance benefits are available but are not part of your health plan and must be purchased separately.
Another aspect of individual health insurance you should understand is in-network versus non-network providers. If you receive care from a physician or at a hospital that is not in the company’s provider network, you will have a greater coinsurance percentage and possibly a separate deductible. For instance instead of 80/20 for in-network, you may have coinsurance of 70/30 for non-network. This increases your out of pocket expenses for the year. Find out whether or not your family doctor and local hospital are in-network before you make a decision to go with any company.
Humana Individual Health Insurance Benefits
Humana has many different cheap individual health insurance options. Note that “individual health insurance” includes policies sold to families, not just one individual person. It is a phrase used to describe policies not sold as part of a group plan. This is commonly misunderstood by consumers.
Some people have group health insurance available through their employers and still purchase individual health insurance because they can tailor a plan to fit their individual needs and budget. Choosing higher deductibles and coinsurance will lower your premium. If you are a fairly healthy person who seldom has to go to the doctor or take medicine, you may choose a plan without the benefit of office visit and prescription drug co-pays, which would also result in a lower premium than a plan with these benefits.
Review Humana Health Insurance Quotes Online
If you don’t have any form of health insurance, don’t put it off until you have a medical emergency or are diagnosed with a serious condition. If you do, you may not be eligible for coverage at all or you may be offered coverage excluding your particular condition. Even if you already do have health insurance coverage it is important to make sure that you shop around and are not paying more than you need to.
The bottom-line is that there is a whole host of options available to you and your family from Humana Health Insurance Company and other providers. So why wait? Use the free quoting tool on this page to get rates from several insurers for a plan that’s tailor-made for you.
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