A healthy family is a happy family. When one family member falls sick, it affects the entire family’s peace of mind. Besides the toll that sickness takes on the psyche, expenses can quickly spiral out of control, leading to financial distress. A family health insurance plan can play a big role in helping you keep your family’s health safe and your finances in check. So picking a good health insurance plan that fits the needs of your family situation becomes crucial. Here are some things to keep in mind when looking for the best family health insurance.
Who offers family insurance plans
- Employer-sponsored plans
- gov or the federal marketplace
- State-based marketplace
- Private insurers
- Medicaid
Benefits of having family insurance
- Single plan for the family: A single plan can cover the healthcare needs of your spouse and dependent children. Handling multiple plans for each of your family members can become taxing and expensive. With a family health insurance plan, you only need to pay one premium for your entire family.
- Financial protection: A family health insurance plan protects your finances when your family members experience difficult health situations, including accidents, chronic conditions, and emergency care.
- Extensive coverage: Family health insurance offers comprehensive coverage in your hour of need. It covers costs arising from hospitalization, emergency care, prescription drugs, mental health, and maternity and pediatric care. Preventative care is also a very important part of healthcare. Screenings, vaccines, and health checkups, which are essential tools when it comes to preventative care, are also covered under family health insurance at no additional cost. You may also get access to telehealth services. If you want to customize your plan to include elements like dental and eye care treatments for adults and international travel coverage, you can do so through add-ons. These can increase your insurance premium.
- Mental health coverage: Maintaining your family’s mental health is as important as keeping them physically fit. When mental health fails, everything else fails along with it. Mental health has to be mandatorily covered under ACA-compliant plans. Substance abuse issues are also covered. Coverage is extended to therapy, inpatient care, and medication that treat mental health and addiction issues.
- Pre-existing conditions: Chronic illnesses take a huge toll on your physical and financial health. Those who are suffering from such conditions often require medication on a long-term basis and may even need hospitalization depending on the severity of their condition. Their medical bills can run into thousands of dollars on a yearly basis. And they are often discriminated against by the insurance industry, which sees them as being too expensive to deal with. The good news is that under family health insurance, those with pre-existing conditions can’t be denied insurance nor can they be charged more for treatments. Children who are born with health conditions also have a right to health insurance and can’t be denied coverage.
- Coverage for children: Children are vulnerable in their formative years to a whole host of health issues. Taking care of their health is something a good parent would never compromise on, and money should not be the thing that’s stopping them from doing so. A family health insurance plan allows the inclusion of dependent children till they reach 26 years of age regardless of their residency, student, or marital status.
Costs
On average, an American family pays about USD 25,000 for family health insurance annually. This works out to about USD 2,100 per month going towards health insurance. If you have chosen an employer-sponsored plan for the family, you may end up paying about USD 600 out of your own pocket towards insurance. If you opt for health insurance from a marketplace, you may have to pay anywhere between USD 1200 and 1800. But you can avail subsidies, which can lower this cost if you are eligible for them.
Tips to keep in mind
- When opting for treatment ensure that your doctor and hospital are in-network
- Compare and make a list of pros and cons before committing to an insurance plan
- If you are opting for an insurance plan through your employer, first compare it with the marketplace plans. Then check the terms given for your dependents
- If you or your family members require constant medical care, then gold/platinum plans should be the right choice for you
- Read the terms and conditions carefully before purchasing a plan and see if it meets the needs of your family
Going without health insurance for the family is an absolute no-no with the cost of living and medical treatments rising sharply year on year. Do your due diligence and scope out the best insurance plan in the market to suit your family’s needs so that you aren’t left standing with huge hospital bills that can take a lifetime to pay off.
