If the high costs of traditional managed care policies are not within your budget, you may want to consider purchasing a Mini Medical Plan policy. Although, these plans are different in structure and need explaining and proper qualifying. If they are explained properly they do have benefits which make them appealing to certain consumers.
The information below can help you decide whether a Mini Medical Plan is the right choice for your medical coverage needs.
What is a Mini Medical Plan?
A Mini Medical Plan is a form of coverage that combines flexibility and personal responsibility by putting consumers in more control over their health care spending. For starters, you are given a large network of providers and access to their extensive discounts. Having access to a large network, you also receive the expertise of cost containment procedures. The last thing a client needs is to receive a large discount for services and then be allowed to lose that entire savings with unnecessary over utilization of extended time in a facility.
Discounts are one of the best features available in a Mini Medical Plan; an example is probable the best way to explain;
You need surgery, approximately $40,000 in costs and three days in the hospital, the circumstances to your policy (example) are. First, you’re not subject to any pre-existing conditions so everything is covered. Next the total discount from the Mini Medical Plans is 80% off charges. In addition, other plan benefits are going to pay you approximately $1000 per day for being in the hospital and $500 for admission (this plan of benefits is very close to one of the best Mini Medical Plans in the market place). The math is, $32,000 discount, $3500 in benefits, leaving the member responsible for $4500 balance. It’s important to make arrangements to pay your portion and stay committed to your arrangement. This is very possible and close to what some people would pay with a regular PPO plan!
Because you do have choices, you can shop around and make cost-effective health care choices in order to keep your own out-of-pocket costs reasonable.
A Mini Medical Plan is also not comprehensive coverage. Most of these plans are limited in that they are designed to cover the costs of unexpected medical costs, serious illnesses and accidents, for instance. The plans do not cover vaccinations, mammograms, annual check-ups, flu shots, or anything considered preventative medicine.
How is a Mini Medical Plan Different from Managed Care?
There are similar benefits with Mini Medical plans and Managed Care plans. One of the major differences is the over all liability. With major medical plans you can reach maximums out of pockets yearly, thus capping your liability, however, there are no annual maximum limits with Mini Medical plans. This is why it is so important to have a thorough conversation with an Insurance professional to go over the plans in detail
On the other hand, most managed care plans are designed to provide comprehensive coverage with an emphasis on preventative care.
Another difference between these two types of plans is the costs of the premiums Mini Medical Plans generally have lower premiums than managed care coverage because you pay a much larger portion of your medical costs, in general. Mini Medical plans also require you to pay a deductible before they begin picking up any of the costs – this is also true with some managed care plans – and this also helps keep premiums lower.
Who Should You Consider a Mini Medical Plan?
A Mini Medical Plan is not right for everyone. If you have health problems that require ongoing medical care, then you may want to choose a managed care plan. Ongoing medicals claims may become very expensive, plus you would have to pay a sizable chunk of the costs.
Mini Medical Plans are also not the best choice for families, particularly families with children who require more preventative care, such as routine vaccinations. Family health insurance plans are a better choice in most of those situations. Usually writing a separate policy for the family member who has a lot of medical conditions and putting the rest of the family on a major medical works fine.
If you are looking for individual health insurance and are generally healthy, then this type of plan give you another good choice. You’ll have the coverage you need in case of a serious health problem but at an affordable price.
These plans are also good for individuals who have had trouble securing health insurance through managed care plans because of pre-existing health conditions. With a Mini Medical Plan, you may be able to have some coverage at a reasonable price.
The bottom line is you need to weigh the pros and cons of a Mini Medical Plan carefully before choosing this type of coverage. If you do decide to pursue such a plan, work with an insurance agent so you can compare policies available in your state and pick the best one for your needs.
If you would like to find out more about health insurance plans and get access to over 5,000 plan choices visit .