What Is (medication discounts) Major Medical Insurance?

Written by Webmaster

Wednesday, 07 May 2008

By Donald Saunders

Major medical insurance is the name given to one particular type of what is commonly referred to today as indemnity or fee-for-service health insurance.

Climbing medical costs in recent years mean that we are progressively moving away from traditional forms of medical insurance and the original indemnity medical insurance plan is now being replaced by various other plans including health maintenance organization (HMO) plans, preferred provider organization (PPO) plans and point of service (POS) plans.

Basically indemnity medical insurance plans are intended to cover unanticipated medical costs resulting from illness and injury and give policy holders extensive freedom in choosing where treatment is sought and by whom such treatment is given. Indemnity policy holders are also normally responsible for paying for their treatment and subsequently reclaiming the cost from their insurer.

By contrast newer plans focus much more upon routine medical care with the intention of eliminating unnecessary costs by keeping policy holders well and spotting conditions at a very early stage when they are hopefully easy to deal with. These plans ease administration for policy holders but also remove a lot of the freedom to decide from whom and where treatment may be received.

The majority of people today are covered by the newer forms of medical insurance rather than by traditional indemnity plans principally not only because of their lower cost but also because there is a lot less administration when it comes times to make a claim under your policy. Additionally, a growing number of companies who offer group health insurance plans for their employees are also choosing these newer plans. Even so, there is still a considerable number of people who prefer the freedom of choice which a fee-for-service policy gives them and it is here where you might like to look at major medical insurance.

Indemnity policies provide three forms of coverage; basic health insurance, major medical insurance and comprehensive insurance.

Basic health insurance policies vary from one health insurer to the next but will commonly cover hospital care (including room and board), certain hospital services (such as x-rays and medicine), surgery (whether undertaken in a hospital or another recognized surgery center) and certain doctors visits.

By contrast major medical insurance policies are intended to cover treatment for long-term and high cost illnesses and injuries as well as in and out-patient costs associated with such illnesses and injuries.

Finally, comprehensive insurance cover is simply a policy which includes both basic and major medical coverage.

Perhaps not surprisingly major medical insurance plans are a very popular choice as the majority of people are quite happy to pay the day to day expense of medical care but are concerned about what they would do in the event of a significant illness or accident which could entail considerable medical expense which could drag on for weeks, months or even years.

Unfortunately, the security and choice that is provided by major medical insurance is reflected in the cost of indemnity policies in general and so it is increasingly becoming an option which a lot of people would wish to select but one which is simple becoming too expensive.

MedicalHealthInsuranceToday.com provides information on all aspects of health insurance including affordable health insurance and major medical insurance policies

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