Health Sharing Plans or HSPs are a popular method for health insurance today. It seems like every single organization is already using this plan or some form of it, though the variations among plans and how they are designed to work varies from one group to another. So which are the best advantages and disadvantages of health care insurance?
Advantages: Health Sharing Plans
The biggest advantage of Health Sharing Plans is that the cost is reduced significantly by having a group of health insurance policyholders and the rest of the insurance companies provide an amount that is based on each policyholder’s age and the number of people in their family. This way you will only pay the amount for the number of members in your family. Another advantage is that the rates tend to be cheaper than individual plans because everyone participates.
Most people believe that HSPs are a cheap way to get health care, but in actuality they are more expensive than individual plans. The reason for this is that the money that is contributed to the plan pool is pooled and divided equally among all the people. A person who goes to the doctor needs the same as every other person and this is also why the cost of the coverage may seem expensive.
Disadvantages: Health Sharing Plans
However the disadvantages of this type of plan are much more substantial than those of an individual plan. If you choose the wrong HSP company then you could end up paying out more than what you should. The companies that claim that they will reduce the premium you will pay when you sign up with them tend to cheat you out of your money. What you need to do is to contact all the different companies and find out how much they charge and if they are truly affordable.
The biggest disadvantage of Health Care Plans is that you will not be able to afford to go to the doctor if something goes wrong and your regular plan doesn’t cover you. This means that you will need to rely on your HSP provider instead.
The other disadvantage is that if you lose your job or get laid off that you will need to rely on your HSP company to take care of the medical bills. This will put a burden on you as you will have to pay for the money that you used to pay for health insurance and you will have to rely on a certain income.
Another major disadvantage is that HSPs often do not cover children under 18 because they do not have a policy for this group. But overall this disadvantage is somewhat negated because if you have a child under 18 then you can use this plan.
One final disadvantage of HSPs is that there is a lot of competition in health care planning. You have to decide between many different providers of Health Care Plans so you may want to consider getting multiple quotes so that you can compare costs.
The best part about these types of plans is that healthy individuals tend to stay insured because they can afford to pay for the insurance. People who are obese or with pre-existing conditions have difficulties paying for their insurance so they are more likely to get dropped from the plan.
This means that they will lose coverage and they will not have it back for a very short period of time. This is a disadvantage of HSP because you need to know the cost of your premiums before you sign up.
These disadvantages are just some of the drawbacks that you may find with HSPs. There are many others that you can find.
You have to do your research and see if this will work well for you. Make sure that you know what the coverage is and what the advantages and disadvantages are.