In an era where health care expenses are high, scheduled health insurance plans offer individuals another way to save on health care coverage. Scheduled insurance plans, however, are not comprehensive insurance plans. Nor are they meant to replace them.

What are the main features of Scheduled Health Insurance Plans?

A scheduled health insurance plan is a type of limited health insurance coverage. It covers the basics for a lower cost, but doesn’t often extend to major medical expenses such as hospitalization or surgery, though some scheduled health insurance plans do cover these things on a limited scale. For the most part, scheduled plans offer a set payment for specific services.

This differs from comprehensive insurance coverage that pays a percentage of the total costs for various treatments. Scheduled health insurance pays the health care provider a specific amount for office visits leaving you responsible to make up the difference. The same is true of prescription medications.

What are the benefits of Scheduled Health Insurance Plans?

Scheduled insurance plans are an excellent choice for day-to-day health care coverage. They cover regularly scheduled visits to the doctor and many prescription medications. They are ideal for families that often skip out on preventative care because their comprehensive policies don’t cover these things or because the coverage is so limited. Scheduled insurance can be used in conjunction with high deductible insurance plans that are becoming so popular with businesses offering health insurance coverage today.

While exploring your options, there are other benefits worth considering. For instance, scheduled insurance plans don’t limit you to a pre-defined list of doctors. You aren’t required to obtain referrals to see specialists (just remember that most policies only cover a specific number of doctor visits per year and they pay the same amount per visit whether it’s your family physician or a specialist). They also pay you directly rather than paying your doctor’s office. This way you do not need to worry about complex insurance forms to file with your physician.

What are the restrictions of Scheduled Health Insurance Plans?

While there are many benefits to consider with scheduled health insurance plans, there are also a few restrictions you must be prepared to deal with as well. First, and most importantly, scheduled health insurance plans are not comprehensive insurance coverage. Most plans do not offer any sort of coverage for hospitalization, surgery, ambulance services, etc. You’ll need some sort of comprehensive health insurance plan for these services in addition to your scheduled health plan.

Scheduled plans also often come with long list of services that the plans specifically do not cover. For instance, most plans will not cover treatments relating to infertility or obesity among other things. There is also a limit for the number of doctor’s visits per year with these plans. Finally, though the numbers vary greatly from one plan to the next, there is a yearly maximum benefits for this type of insurance. Once that maximum is reached, you are responsible for all doctor’s visits and prescriptions.

What is the importance of a Scheduled Health Insurance Plan?

Perhaps the most important thing of all about scheduled health insurance plans is that the fill in the gaps in coverage left behind by the proliferation of high-deductible insurance plans companies are providing today as part of their benefits packages. They also help people who do not have access to any other types of insurance, namely those who are self-employed, have access to affordable health insurance on a somewhat limited scale so that they can take preventative measures for the sake of their continued health.

There are few people today who would not benefit, to some degree or another, by investing in a scheduled health insurance plan. Whether you’re interested in a little extra peace of mind or you have no insurance coverage at all at the moment, scheduled health insurance is a worthy investment.