Individual and Family Health Insurance

Diseases and ailments are on the rise, around the world. Scientists attribute this to pollution, junk food, excessive alcohol consumption, stress, and lifestyle in general. And when illness strikes, the focus is less on getting quality healthcare or recovering quickly, and more on fretting about the cost of treatment or how to foot the medical bills.

It is shocking to know that, in the last three decades, more and more citizens in North America are able to ill-afford the cost of much needed medical treatment, as they do not have healthcare coverage of any sort. In 2011, a report published by the Commonwealth Fund showed that as many as 26% of US citizens in the working age-group have gaps in their health insurance coverage.

Not having adequate health insurance coverage can be risky from various perspectives.

1.  Penalties to be paid: From January 2014, US citizens who do not have healthcare coverage, must pay a tax of $95 per adult or 1 percent of annual income, whichever is greater, with this amount gradually increasing to $695 per adult or 2.5 percent of annual income, whichever is greater, by 2016. 
2.  Financial ruin: It may be disquieting to know that one of the most common reasons for people filing for personal bankruptcy is their having to foot costly medical bills after the onset of a serious illness. The consequences of such action has led to destruction of an individual’s career, marriage and has even ruined their creditworthiness.
3. Reduced access to healthcare: Federal law requires the insured to undergo mammograms, vaccinations, colonoscopies, or prostate cancer screenings frequently. These examinations help detect these ailments in the early stages, thereby enabling treatment and cure. Not having coverage means people tend to defer such screenings and expose themselves to health risks and the increased cost of treating them.
4.   Limited to none follow-up care: Though, all hospitals treat emergencies, even if the patient has no healthcare insurance, this however, does not apply to follow-up care. So when a patient who needs follow up care, does not have healthcare insurance cover, they are putting themselves at a risk for consequences such as a relapse and other complications.
5.  It may be a while before you get coverage: As per Federal laws (Obamacare), consumers can purchase health insurance cover only at prescribed intervals of time every year, or shortly after a life-altering event like immigration, marriage, death of a family member, birth of a child, a new job, etc.

That is why it is imperative to have a reasonably good health insurance cover. This begs the question. Does one go for an individual health insurance or a family health insurance plan? Needless to say, these two types of cover are suitable for different situations, and have their own benefits and disadvantages.

Family Health Insurance

Family Health Insurance is less expensive than Individual Health Insurance and covers all the family members, who share a fixed cover. This means, if a family has a cover of 100,000 USD, the entire family can claim up to 100,000 USD as a combined entity. The most common configuration for these policies is two adults and two children to be covered. This is ideal for younger families whose members have a low health risk.

Individual Health Insurance

Here, each member of the family has a separate cover amount, and they claim this entire amount over one or more claims in a year. This is ideal for older families and when the health risk is more. 

Regardless of the type of healthcare insurance coverage you desire, at Allied Brokers, we primarily analyze your / your family’s profile, before making our suggestions. We offer the most flexible plans and we function on a consultative style. Our plans are easy to assimilate and they also ensure that the coverage we afford keeps you in good general health, without having the stress of paying huge hospital / medical bills.