Insurance Basics: Home
A new way of getting healthcare is becoming common. Called telehealth or telemedicine, it lets people get healthcare without traveling. Telehealth uses electronic devices such as phones and computers to deliver healthcare services and clinical information across distances.
Your plan contracts with a wide range of doctors and other practitioners, as well as hospitals, labs, radiology facilities, pharmacies and other providers. These are the providers in your “network”. Each of these providers has agreed to take your plan´s contracted rate as payment in full for services.
Healthcare proxies and advance healthcare directives can help you plan your care if you ever lose the ability to communicate clearly.
A medical home is a type of doctor´s practice that uses a team to focus on the “whole person”. It is sometimes called a patient-centered medical home (PCMH).
Health insurance is important. It protects you against what can be the very high costs of healthcare. But, to get health insurance, you need to enroll, or sign up. And, in most cases, you can’t enroll in a health plan any time you want. You have to do it during certain times.
Sometimes you know ahead of time that a major event will happen in your life. Examples might include getting married or divorced, changing jobs or having a baby. Other times, such as at a death, you may not have advance warning.