How to Compare Health Insurance Plans

How to Compare Health Insurance Plans - If you are looking for health insurance that protects you or your relatives in a situation of illness, you should be able to draw the right path to achieve the appropriate service for you.

In Portugal, there are more than 2 million of people protected by health insurance, according to the data of the Insurance Institute of Portugal, many of them covered by policies that the companies hired for the collaborators. If you also want to be protected on a private health network, meet the 8 clues to get to the insurance that fits your profile.

8 Tips for comparing health insurance

1. What you seek

Among the many insurances that exist on the market, the coverage offer is enormous. So concentrate your attention on the services you think will be more helpful. For example, if you think you only need outpatient services that include private networking queries, or if you are no longer thinking of having children, you can put aside more expensive coverages like childbirth-related.

2. Covers

Health insurance is not all the same. The big difference is in the covers included. For example, there are insurances aimed at covering health expenses such as consultations in private clinics or hospitals, outpatients, most specialized insurance in hospitalization, with coverage of healthcare services such as surgeries or other medical acts involving the Payment of daily internment expenses, surgery, exams and medical personnel.

Besides these, which may be combined in one insurance, there are some even more comprehensive insurance covering expenses not only from ambulatory and hospitalization, but also go to more specific cases such as childbirth or stomatology, which aggravates the premium paid by the insured.

3. Assistance or reimbursement

When you hire a health insurance, you can usually use the services in two ways: on the contracted or off-network network. In the healthcare network linked to insurance (assistance), it pays a fixed amount per service or a percentage of the amount of the Medical Act, making a copayment. Outside the agreed network and through the refund system, you can use medical services to support the payment of clinical acts at the time, being reimbursed later (up to 30 days) by the insurer in a percentage of the service that can reach values such as the 90%, On presentation of invoices.

To compare insurance, in addition to comparing the amount of the annual premium, you may take account of the extent of the agreed network, the amount of copayment and the percentage of the refund. The higher the refund and the lower the copayment, the greater your savings. If you are inside the country or in a geographical area with a limited network of insurance, opt for the reimbursement system, but if you live in a large city with good coverage of the network, choose the assistance service.

For those who want to combine the two modes, some insurance allows the mixed system.

4. Discount Cards

Some insurance companies offer discount cards on healthcare services on their network that can be used without limits. The customer will only have to pay a portion of the amount of the service carried out on the private health network. Comparing network discounts on existing cards can be a path to having a health at hand, with prices that are not too high.

5. The largest the family, the lowest the prize

Having a family insurance allows not only to protect the entire aggregate but also boost discounts. The generality of insurance allows the entry of a new member into the same policy to reduce the premium by a given percentage. Comparing the discounts that the different insurance companies offer for more elements linked to the same health insurance is a way to lead to the premium account.

6. Attention to age limits

There is a condition that can soon limit your choice of insurance: age. Not all insurances allow the insured to have an age to prowl the 60 years and some have age ceilings for renewal of such insurance contracts. If you have already reached the retirement age or if you are close, this may be a factor that conditions your choice.

7. Safer, cheaper insurance

As in a bank, the higher the financial ratio, the greater the benefits or the smaller the commissions. In insurers that logic also exists. If you already have a car, housing or other insurance in a certain insurer, including this new health insurance in the same company may cause a benefit for you, as insurance companies favor the customers with more products.

8. Deficiency

Take into account that having health insurance does not mean an immediate use of the services. Apart from accidents, other health services are normally conditioned to a waiting period that may be a few months. If you are pregnant and you are thinking of health insurance that includes the childbirth, pay attention to this grace period. Imagine that he was insured at 90 days of pregnancy and that the insurance demanded a grace period of 270 days. I'd probably have to equate the second son to take advantage of the labor services.

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