Maintaining a family is a tough job. The average cost of family health insurance, these days ranges from, $10,000 to $12,000. In this scenario, finding an affordable health insurance scheme helps save money, that you could better invest, in your kids college fund or to lower your taxes.
Getting a good quote from a family health insurance scheme is essential, to avoid bankruptcy, due to inflated medical bills. To get the best quotes, you need to take stock of your family's needs and choose from a range of government or private schemes available.
Government plans are available at low costs, such as Medicaid which provides health care to low income families and adults, expecting mothers, the aged and the disabled. If you don't qualify for Medicaid, by being out of their income bracket, you can opt for state sponsored schemes like, the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), when you just can't afford to pay, for your child's treatment. Visit your state's health department, to find out about other such programs or check their websites.
If government plans, don't fit you can always turn to private companies, to take care of your family's medical expenses. Avoid indemnity plans, since they are the most expensive and confusing; but they take into account a lot of diseases and terminal cases like cancer and diabetes, which many plans tend to skip. Deductibles are high, and you have to pay a monthly premium, along with a percentage of the bill (about 20%).
Health Maintenance Organizations (HMO), set you up with a network of physicians and specialists, in their network. You have to pay a small fee of $5 to $10, to the doctor every time you visit them. You are also assigned a primary physician, who you need to consult, before being referred to a specialist.
HMO's may be cheap, but their network of specialists is too small, which is why most people tend to buy into Preferred Provider Organizations (PPO), which charge an extra fees if you need to consult a doctor, outside of the network. PPO's are a good option if someone in your family, has a chronic condition like asthma or arthritis.
Your family can be covered, in different ways as it grows. Most parents forget to include their newborn members, into the current family scheme, and regret the decision later. Signing up new members is easy, and requires only a little paperwork.
Also, take care that you choose a scheme which allows for lower premiums per month, when you have young kids, since they tend to get into minor scrapes and fall sick often, making regular trips to the doctor common place. When your kids grow up, your health scheme should preferably have lower monthly payments, in place of lower co-pay.
Even when your kids leave the nest, you can still include them in your dental and medical schemes, as long as proof is provided that the child is actively enrolled and is regular in classes. These documents must be mailed by your kids from the registrar at their college, every semester, to keep the coverage up and running.