Hipaa Deductible
hipaa deductible
Health Insurance for Dummies?
I had just turned 19. I’ve went 1 year now without health insurance and I would like to know as much as I can about it.
I’m looking for insurance for me and my Fiance, just us. He’s a smoker and we both weigh between 180-190 (I’m fat o.o”). We make less than $500 monthly and Starting in Spring I’m going to be a full Time student (My mother is paying for that). I’ve looked at a few places for insurances already, but I don’t understand the lingo, like what does HMO mean or HIPAA or blah blah. If someone can just explain some of the basics or send me a link to a place that explains it.
By the way, I am not that smart =/ So I really need everything simplified or I won’t understand. (I’ve already tried googling everything, but as I read more, I understand less. Like whats an Annual Deductible?).
Any input would be great, thanks =]
I WISH there was a health insurance for dummies book, haha. If you’re going to be a full time student, more likely than not your school will offer insurance and I’d take that. Your fiancee can probably join your plan as a dependent. The school insurance company will explain all this to you on the phone.
So, first step, call your school and ask if they offer insurance. 
HMO stands for health maintenance organization. This is a type of insurance where everything is done in one network. Kaiser is one example of an HMO. If you’re relatively healthy this can work as a good option, but if you’re not, or you don’t like the doctors in their network, it’s almost impossible to have your care covered anywhere else.
A PPO stands for preferred provider organization I believe. This is a much more flexible plan than an HMO. For instance, my PPO covers several different hospitals and independant doctors (doctors who have their own clinics and don’t work at a hospital). The insurance company covers almost all of my bills if I use one of their PPO doctors, but they still cover about 60% of my bill if I use a doctor that isn’t on their plan. Make sense?
Annual Deductible is what you have to pay before the insurance starts paying. So, if your deductible is $800, the insurance company won’t cover any of your expenses until you’ve paid $800 worth of medical bills.
It’s may be hard to find insurance for what you can afford…when I paid for private insurance it was about $300 a month. You can find reputable companies by looking through COBRA’s website. COBRA offers insurance for as low as $30 a month, but being a smoker, your fiancee will almost certainly be disqualified. He may only be able to get insurance being your dependent through a school group plan or ig he can get it through a job.
Good luck!
