4 Health Plans

Type of Coverage The plan type you choose will determine how you select and access your health care services. In general, the wider your choice of doctors and hospitals, and the level of health care coverage that you choose, the higher your cost will be in terms of premiums. Health Maintenance Organization (HMO) Plans Health Maintenance Organization (HMO) plans cover more of the cost of your health care than any other plan type. HMO plans provide coverage only for services received from doctors and hospitals within the HMO network. You choose a specific health care group or network, and physicians within the network to coordinate all of your health care needs. If the statement below applies to you, then an HMO will meet your coverage needs: I want to pay as little as possible when I see a doctor, so I’m willing to select a specific medical group and physician to coordinate all of my health care needs. Preferred Provider Organization (PPO) Plans The Preferred Provider Organization (PPO) plans offer you the most flexibility in your choices of doctors and hospitals (providers). PPO plans provide coverage (at different levels) for services from both participating and non-participating providers. If the below statements apply, then a PPO will meet your coverage needs. I want more control over my health care and access to any doctor or hospital I choose. I need a lower monthly premium so I’m willing to pay more for my health care services as they occur throughout the year. HSA (Health Savings Account) Compatible Health Plans HSA accounts help people obtain health insurance and save on their taxes. New tax incentives for more people to sign up for HSA accounts and purchase portable health insurance. First, it would be helpful to sort out a few facts: Health Savings Accounts are simply a new way to put a limited amount of money aside, tax-free, to pay for routine health care expenses. What you don't spend in one year rolls over to the next, and earnings grow tax-free. But you can only open an HSA if you have health insurance with a relatively high annual deductible – at least $1,050 for individuals and $2,100 for families this year. The policies also can cover preventive care, including screenings and medicines, so these costs don't have to come out of your HSA. These higher-deductible health policies generally are less expensive than traditional insurance, just like having a higher deductible on your car insurance means your premiums are lower. It's hard to understand what all the fuss is about. The real point of HSAs is to offer people a new incentive, a tax-free carrot, to purchase health insurance. Consumers can purchase health insurance that protects them against major medical expenses, and, if they choose, can put the savings from the lower premiums into their HSA for routine health expenses. And it appears to be working: About 3 million people have purchased HSA-qualifying health insurance, and early studies showed about one-third of these people were previously uninsured. Critics contend that HSAs will appeal only to the young, the healthy, and wealthy, but that doesn't appear to be the case. Forty percent of HSA purchasers make less than $50,000 a year, about half are over age 40, and the biggest share of purchasers are middle-aged families with children. Blue Cross Blue Shield found that those with HSAs follow the same bell curve in age and health status as those with traditional coverage: As many are young and healthy in both types of plans as are older and sicker. Early evidence also shows that HSA users are more likely to use preventive services and to comply with medical treatments. And they are helping to solve one of the biggest problems in the health sector: high costs. One survey by Deloitte's Center for Health Solutions found that the cost of consumer-directed health plans increased by 2.8 percent last year among the 152 major companies it surveyed. Unless more people and businesses find ways to cut health costs, we will certainly see a further deterioration in the number of people with health coverage. HSAs and their accompanying higher-deductible health coverage can keep individuals and small businesses in the game. A survey by American's Health Insurance Plans found that 27 percent of small businesses offering HSAs didn't previously offer insurance. Couple that with the one-third of individual HSA purchasers having been previously uninsured, and it's clear this is a new option for people who had been shut out of the system. HSAs are not a silver bullet but one tool in stabilizing our health sector by helping to reduce the number of uninsured people. If the below statements apply, then a HSA Compatible Health Plan will meet your coverage needs. I want more control over my health care and access to any doctor or hospital I choose. I need a lower monthly premium and would like to set aside money tax free, whether or not I have a medical expense that year.
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Type of Coverage

The plan type you choose will determine how you select and access your health care services. In general, the wider your choice of doctors and hospitals, and the level of health care coverage that you choose, the higher your cost will be in terms of premiums.

Health Maintenance Organization (HMO) Plans
Health Maintenance Organization (HMO) plans cover more of the cost of your health care than any other plan type. HMO plans provide coverage only for services received from doctors and hospitals within the HMO network. You choose a specific health care group or network, and physicians within the network to coordinate all of your health care needs. If the statement below applies to you, then an HMO will meet your coverage needs:

I want to pay as little as possible when I see a doctor, so I’m willing to select a specific medical group and physician to coordinate all of my health care needs.

Preferred Provider Organization (PPO) Plans
The Preferred Provider Organization (PPO) plans offer you the most flexibility in your choices of doctors and hospitals (providers). PPO plans provide coverage (at different levels) for services from both participating and non-participating providers. If the below statements apply, then a PPO will meet your coverage needs.

I want more control over my health care and access to any doctor or hospital I choose.

I need a lower monthly premium so I’m willing to pay more for my health care services as they occur throughout the year.

HSA (Health Savings Account) Compatible Health Plans
HSA accounts help people obtain health insurance and save on their taxes. New tax incentives for more people to sign up for HSA accounts and purchase portable health insurance.

First, it would be helpful to sort out a few facts: Health Savings Accounts are simply a new way to put a limited amount of money aside, tax-free, to pay for routine health care expenses. What you don't spend in one year rolls over to the next, and earnings grow tax-free.

But you can only open an HSA if you have health insurance with a relatively high annual deductible – at least $1,050 for individuals and $2,100 for families this year. The policies also can cover preventive care, including screenings and medicines, so these costs don't have to come out of your HSA.

These higher-deductible health policies generally are less expensive than traditional insurance, just like having a higher deductible on your car insurance means your premiums are lower.
It's hard to understand what all the fuss is about. The real point of HSAs is to offer people a new incentive, a tax-free carrot, to purchase health insurance. Consumers can purchase health insurance that protects them against major medical expenses, and, if they choose, can put the savings from the lower premiums into their HSA for routine health expenses.

And it appears to be working: About 3 million people have purchased HSA-qualifying health insurance, and early studies showed about one-third of these people were previously uninsured.
Critics contend that HSAs will appeal only to the young, the healthy, and wealthy, but that doesn't appear to be the case. Forty percent of HSA purchasers make less than $50,000 a year, about half are over age 40, and the biggest share of purchasers are middle-aged families with children.

Blue Cross Blue Shield found that those with HSAs follow the same bell curve in age and health status as those with traditional coverage: As many are young and healthy in both types of plans as are older and sicker. Early evidence also shows that HSA users are more likely to use preventive services and to comply with medical treatments. And they are helping to solve one of the biggest problems in the health sector: high costs. One survey by Deloitte's Center for Health Solutions found that the cost of consumer-directed health plans increased by 2.8 percent last year among the 152 major companies it surveyed.

Unless more people and businesses find ways to cut health costs, we will certainly see a further deterioration in the number of people with health coverage. HSAs and their accompanying higher-deductible health coverage can keep individuals and small businesses in the game.

A survey by American's Health Insurance Plans found that 27 percent of small businesses offering HSAs didn't previously offer insurance. Couple that with the one-third of individual HSA purchasers having been previously uninsured, and it's clear this is a new option for people who had been shut out of the system.
HSAs are not a silver bullet but one tool in stabilizing our health sector by helping to reduce the number of uninsured people.

If the below statements apply, then a HSA Compatible Health Plan will meet your coverage needs.

I want more control over my health care and access to any doctor or hospital I choose.

I need a lower monthly premium and would like to set aside money tax free, whether or not I have a medical expense that year.