Things to Look for in a Plan

If you decide to go forward with a catastrophic insurance plan, then you want to make sure it includes certain

components in coverage. You won’t know for sure which plan does until to read the fine details. And coverage may

vary from state to state, so you want to get the details specific to your region.

Initially you want to be sure you understand how much the premium will be. Payment schedules can vary from monthly

to quarterly or to one lump sum annually. Make sure to understand the deductible amounts required from you as well.

This may vary per incident/visit and per year as an annual minimum deductible before coverage is initiated.

Critical services you want included in a potential plan include:

 Life-saving and function-preserving surgery

 Intensive care services

 Immediate rehabilitative needs, including equipment, treatment and pharmaceuticals

 Emergency room and related services access

 Out-of-network coverage in case you have to go to a hospital not normally covered by your plan

 That it meets the criteria for the IRS if you have an HSA account

 Hospital stay expenses including room costs and incidentals

 Physician expenses (not always covered by the hospital)

 Pregnancy services for birth and newborn infant care

Again, it’s not likely that a catastrophic insurance plan is going to cover ongoing

prescriptions or preventative treatments. They are designed to maximize profit for insurance

companies while making cost risk minimal.

Conclusion

Catastrophic insurance may seem like an easy choice for those thinking immediately of

costs, and with today’s economy and the rising cost of healthcare it’s easy to get focused

only on the money side of things. However, committing to such a plan without studying the

details can backfire at the worst possible times, especially when needing critical medical

care and then being surprised at a denial of coverage. The best approach when using these

plans is to compare coverages offered by different companies and then finding the plan that

best serves your need in your region and state. It also requires being honest about your

health situation and understanding that for the most part you will be self-medicating most of

your health needs rather than relying on a nurse or doctor for help. Only the most critical

medical needs are usually covered under these plans. If this is your true need, then a

catastrophic insurance plan could be the right health coverage for you at this time in your

life.

What to look for in a Catastrophic Insurance Plan.