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Home › Articles › General Family Finance › HMO? PPO?

HMO? PPO?

6 Tips for Choosing the Best Type of Health Plan for Your Budget

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Nationwide, many businesses are heading into their fall health plan enrollment period, when employees have the opportunity to choose a new health insurance plan for the coming year. But many people still find themselves confused when it comes to the nitty-gritty of choosing the best health coverage.

"Health insurance is a hot-button issue because of the rising costs, the personal impact health has on our quality of life and the confusing alphabet soup of acronyms the industry uses," says Brad Stroh, co-CEO of Bills.com. "These three factors make it stressful for most of us to try to make decisions about our health insurance. Because of its impact, it is especially important for people to educate themselves about health care and make good choices for their well-being."

According to the Urban Institute, low-income adults who have employer-sponsored insurance but have high health costs spend 10 percent of their income on health costs above and beyond premiums. People without a group insurance policy spend twice as much.

Stroh offers the following 6 tips to select the right health insurance:

1. Do your homework.
Learn about different types of health insurance plans to find out what kind of coverage is best for you and your family. Ask your employer's human resources office for information, and search online – a good starting place is Bills.com's dedicated health insurance page.
 
2. Get with the plan.
About 60 percent of Americans are covered by employer-sponsored health plans. If you can join a group plan through your employer or your spouse's, you'll usually find it more affordable and easier than purchasing individual insurance. For some small companies, however, their groups become too expensive – for example, if several members have high-risk births or expensive treatments like cancer or transplants – and the employers turn to individual coverage. Still others don't qualify for group insurance and must choose individual insurance. Review all your options to find the best one.
 

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