Insurance Basics: Home

Choosing a Health Plan

Your employer may offer more than one health plan, or you may be shopping for your own individual plan.

Choosing a Health Plan
Palliative Care and Shared Decision Making

Palliative care is medical care that tries to relieve discomfort and stress for people with serious illnesses. It focuses on improving quality of life for patients and their families. Palliative care doesn’t try to cure the illness.

Palliative Care and Shared Decision Making
In-Network and Out-of-Network Care

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.

Cost Sharing

Health insurance protects you from paying the full cost of your care. But, you will likely still have to pay some money out of your pocket. Almost all plans call for “cost sharing”. That means your insurer pays for part of your care, and you pay for part.

Insured and Self-Insured Plans

Employers offer health coverage to their workers in several ways. Some buy an “off the shelf” plan from a commercial insurance company.

Managing Costs of Long-Term Care

Long-term care is medical and nonmedical care that you receive for an extended period of time, at home, in your community or in a residential facility. This article will tell you how to manage the costs of long-term care. This article does not provide medical, financial or legal advice.

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IN AND OUT OF NETWORK

When Out-of-Network Care Can Be Covered in Network
PLAN COSTS

Flexible Spending Plans
YOUR RIGHTS

Appealing a Reimbursement Decision
KNOW BEFORE YOU GO

Choosing Your Healthcare Provider In-Network and Out-of-Network Care

Did You

Know

Every medical service has its own special code number called a CPT® code. Knowing that code number helps you get the most accurate cost estimate and understand your bill.

Did You

Know

If your health plan paid less than you expected, you can use your cost estimate to appeal.