Question:

What should I consider before buying health insurance?

Answer:

A health insurance plan will never cover every expense. To get a true idea of what your costs will be under each plan, you need to look at how much you will pay for your premium and other costs.

• Are there deductibles you must pay before the insurance begins to help cover your costs?
• After you have met your deductible, what part of your costs are paid by the plan (co-insurance)?
• Does this amount vary by the type of service, doctor, or health facility used?
• Are there co-payments you must pay for certain services, such as doctor visits?
• If you use doctors outside a plan's network, how much more will you pay to get care?
• If a plan does not cover certain services or care that you think you will need, how much will you have to pay?
• Are there any limits to how much you must pay in case of major illness?
• Is there a limit on how much the plan will pay for your care in a year or over a lifetime? A single hospital stay for a serious condition could cost hundreds of thousands of dollars.

You can't know in advance what your health care needs for the coming year will be. But answering these questions can help guess what services you and your family might need.

For help, talk to Annie Moreno at Arnold & Associates, an Individual Health Insurance specialist: (602)279-1007. amoreno@karnold.com

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