Just What Is Major Medical Insurance Coverage?
By Don Saunders
Major medical insurance coverage is the term used to refer to one particular form of what is normally referred to today as indemnity or fee-for-service health insurance.
Escalating health costs in recent years mean that we are progressively moving away from traditional forms of health insurance and the original indemnity health insurance plan is now 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.
In effect indemnity health insurance plans are intended to cover unanticipated medical costs resulting from injury and illness and give policy holders significant freedom in selecting where treatment is sought and by whom such treatment is given. Indemnity policy holders are also frequently responsible for paying for treatment and subsequently claiming back the cost from their insurer.
The newer plans by contrast focus far more on routine health care with the aim of eliminating unnecessary costs by keeping policy holders well and identifying problems at a very early stage when they are hopefully simple to treat. These newer plans simplify administration for policy holders but also take away much of the freedom to decide from whom and where treatment can be received.
Most people today will be covered by the newer forms of health insurance instead of by traditional indemnity plans primarily not only because of their reduced cost but also because there is a lot less administration when it comes to making claims under your policy. In addition, an increasing number of companies who provide group health insurance plan membership to their employees are also opting for these newer plans. Nonetheless, there is still a substantial number of individuals who prefer the freedom of choice which an indemnity policy allows them and it is here where you may like to look at major medical insurance.
Indemnity plans provide three types of coverage; basic health insurance, major medical insurance and comprehensive insurance.
Basic health insurance plans will vary from one insurance company to the next but will commonly
cover hospital care (plus room and board), some hospital services (such as x-rays and medication), surgery (whether done in a hospital or at another recognized surgical center) and some doctors visits.
By contrast major medical insurance plans are intended to cover the treatment of high cost and long-term illnesses and injuries and both in and out-patient costs associated with such illnesses and injuries.
Comprehensive cover is simply a policy which encompasses both basic and major medical coverage.
Perhaps not surprisingly major medical insurance is a popular choice as most individuals are quite happy to meet the day to day expense of health care but are concerned about how they would cope in the event of a significant illness or accident which may involve considerable medical expense which might drag on for weeks, months or even years.
Sadly, the security and choice that is provided by a major medical insurance policy is reflected in the cost of indemnity plans in general and so it is becoming more and more of an option which a lot of individuals would like to select but one which is simple becoming too expensive.
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