The third general type of health insurance plan available in Florida is a POS plan. These plans have some of the restrictive features of an HMO, like requiring a primary care physician to refer you for specialist care. But, like a PPO plan, a POS will pay some portion of your medical care from out of network providers and may pay in full for out of network specialist care if your primary care physician refers you to the specialist. Like its hybrid features suggest, the monthly premium for a POS can be more than an HMO but significantly less than a PPO monthly premium.
Keep in mind that regardless of which type of plan you choose, the most affordable monthly premiums will usually be coupled with higher up front charges like deductibles, copays and coinsurance. If you choose a lower monthly premium/high deductible plan, unless you have serious medical needs, you may never reach your deductible amount. Depending on your healthcare needs, a plan with a higher monthly premium payment but a lower deductible and/or copay/coinsurance amounts could be more economical over the long run.
Don’t forget to pay attention to a plan’s out-of-pocket limit. Should a medical catastrophe strike, this is the most you will have to pay before your plan covers 100 percent of your eligible medical expenses. Finally, be sure to review your chosen plan’s Exceptions to Coverage list thoroughly before you sign on to the plan. You want to be sure that your chosen plan doesn’t exclude from coverage any diagnostic tools or treatments that you may require over the coming year. Your plan won’t pay for these excluded items even if they become medically necessary for you.
Your choice of health insurance plans is a critical post-divorce decision. Ask questions and make use of internet resources to thoroughly understand the pros and cons of different health insurance plans before you choose your plan.
