Individual Health Insurance - The Pros and Cons.
An Individual Health Insurance policy is necessary for those unlucky souls who can't get a company based health insurance scheme because their either self employed or just unlucky enough to work for a company where this benefit is not offered.
If you can't move job and have no real way of getting onto a company sponsored policy – then you need to look to starting an individual policy for yourself.
Now, ignoring the separate argument of “Do I really need to take out Health Insurance?” then a solo policy is going to be different from a company scheme and is going to need to be assessed much harder. You need to do some very careful due diligence on it before signing on the dotted line.
Here's what to check for:-
Limitations on Pre-Existing Conditions
If you are unlucky enough to have a pre diagnosed condition, is this covered or excluded from your proposal? Some insurers may just look to increase the size of your premiums against the strong probability if them having to pay out against a claim. Others may just look to exclude this condition from their cover. You need to know which is which!
Non-Cancellation (Renewal Guaranteed) Cover
What some insurance companies do when you become sick is they try to terminate the policy after payment. Although not nice at all this is still quite legal in some states. Make sure when you take out the policy that it is guaranteed to renew each year – conditional on your paying the premiums on time and never defrauding the company.
Review Period
Most good quality insurance companies offer a 10 – 14 day review period on their policies. Check to make sure that yours has a review period and make sure you use it.
However dull, tiring and difficult it is, make sure you read the terms and conditions of the policy. You may just pick up on a clause that is not in your interests. Better to find it now than when you need them to payout for medical bills only to be quoted the clause and their decision not to cover your cost!
Basically – to round off – make sure that you know exactly what IS being covered, what ISN'T being covered and over what time period the cover lasts.
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