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Personal medical insurance offers benefits for medical care. Prescription assistance programs are included in some policies. Various policies may well provide for payment of health charges incurred on a reimbursement basis by paying benefits to the plan owner, payment on a service basis by paying those who provide the services directly, or payment of an indemnity by paying a set amount regardless of the sum charged for health bills. Health expense or hospitalization coverage can be written on an individual or group basis. Many of these plans will provide prescription help.

Though there are a lot of types of benefits offered, personal medical expense insurance can commonly be categorized as basic health expense coverage, major medical coverage, comprehensive medical coverage, and special programs. These plans should cover prescriptions because prescription drugs help so many people. Most of these programs have essentially been replaced by managed care options and are no longer available as stand-alone plans. These types of programs have been adapted and replaced in response to changes in the health care field relative to cost containment and market competition.

Basic healthcare insurance provided by a personal medical expense policy includes hospital expense, surgical expense and medical expense. These three basics may possibly be issued as one or individually. Normally this is issued as “first dollar” coverage, which means it does not contain a deductible.

Like the name indicates, hospital expense health insurance offers benefits for expenses incurred throughout hospitalization. Hospital indemnities are customarily classified into two broad groups:

• Room and board, together with nursing care and special diets

• Miscellaneous medical expenses, plus x-rays, laboratory fees, drugs, medical supplies, and operating and treatment rooms

In a few cases, surgical benefits might be built-in for specific types of surgery and related expenses. Hospital expense healthcare insurance provides benefits for daily hospital room and board and miscellaneous hospital expenses while the insured patient is confined to the hospital. The plan can provide for a certain dollar amount for the daily hospital room and board benefit, even though the tendency is toward health insurance of not more than the semiprivate room rate unless a private room is medically necessary. The room and board benefit may be paid on either an indemnity basis or a reimbursement basis, depending on the specific policy.

Indemnity plans are occasionally called dollar amount policies. Room and board rates change by geographic location, however it is not unusual to notice room and board rates ranging from $250  to $500  per day or more.

Normally, the maximum number of days is from 100  to 350 . More commonly, room and board charges are paid on a reimbursement basis. This is {frequently called an expenses incurred basis~This is also known as a expenses incurred basis~This is commonly called a expenses incurred basis}. Under this deal, the policy will pay in one of two methods.

• The actual charges for a semiprivate room are covered.

• A percentage of the actual cost is paid, with no definite dollar limit.

Under the first reimbursement option, the health insurance company will pay the full actual semiprivate room rate, regardless of what it is. Under the second reimbursement option, the health insurance carrier pays a specific percentage, regardless of what the actual charges are. A universal percentage is 80%.

To recap, under the actual charges style of reimbursement plan, the policy will pay the actual amount charged for a semiprivate room without regard to a specific dollar limit. Under the percentage style of reimbursement policy, the plan may pay a certain percentage of the actual charges.

 

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