January 16, 2012


Our guest asks:

I changed insurance but after reading the Web site, I see that I don't have major medical coverage. My concern is my medicines. So what I have is limited medical insurance?

OnlineAdviser responds:

It seems that you purchased health insurance without professional help; presumably not here through the OnlineAdviser network of insurance exchanges.

Unfortunately we notice an increasing pattern of individuals purchasing health insurance based on a non-professional salesperson's pitch - usually by telephone - without gaining a thorough understanding of the coverage and limitations and how it compares to all of the other choices that are available in the market. Since health insurance is so important to your financial future, we strongly discourage this practice. We covered the risk of falling victim to a scam using this approach in a recent editorial at http://tonynovak.com/editorial/writer/scam-report-for-online-health-insurance.htm.

The Affordable Care Act passed by the federal government in 2010 makes a number of new resources available to consumers.  These are available free of charge to consumers so our strong advice is to take advantage of these resources! First, the public and commercial health insurance exchanges make a wide variety of insurance available for side-by-side comparison. Second, a health insurance Navigator can help analyze your specific coverage needs, budget and preferences and make professional recommendations. Since navigators are not paid based on commission, you can better assured of unbiased advice. Finally, federal government and private groups have published a number of resources (like this OnlineAdviser help line that you reached) to provide additional consumer information online.

At this point it makes sense to review your current coverage and then compare it to other choices that may be available in your area. Keep in mind that the best health coverage value is typically not obtained through one insurance policy but through a combination of two insurance policies and a discount (non-insurance) network membership. Your current policy is likely less expensive than major medical insurance and is designed to provide coverage for routine medical expenses. A major medical plan typically does not cover routine expenses but provides protection in the event that expensive medical treatment is needed for a catastrophic claim. Although the chances of this may be minimal, it should still be an important consideration in your planning.

Information about coverage and limitations of your current policy can be found at http://www.corehealthinsurance.net/core-health-insurance-FAQs.html . Other choices including the major medical policies in your area can be found by selecting your state of residence at http://www.freedombenefits.net. Neither your current insurance nor the major medical insurance pays the cost of ongoing prescription drugs; this is one of the most common misperceptions of misinformed consumers. In many cases the best consumer value is available through a non-insurance discount pricing plan including the online choices by Careington as well as the discount purchase plans through retailers like Wal-Mart, Target and others.

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