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Major medical health insurance is a type of insurance that covers all expenses that come with serious illness or hospitalization. These types of insurance plans are meant to comply with provisions found in the Affordable Care Act in the United States. For most people, the term major medical health insurance might not be in their daily terminology but its concepts and provisions are what come to mind when most people think about medical insurance that covers what most people fear, bankruptcy due to huge medical bills.
What major medical health insurance does not cover
To start off, major medical health insurance covers everything the Affordable care Act advocates for including hospitalization, prescription medicine, laboratory services, and a host of other services. Major medical health insurance does not include dental or vision plans, accident coverage, fixed indemnity plans, limited benefit plans or critical illness plans. For some insurance plans, it also does not cover illnesses or complications that stem from declared pre-existing conditions.
You are covered, but with some costs
Even if the name major medical health insurance might imply that you are covered for all costs associated with any illnesses or hospitalization as specified in your plan, there are some costs associated with it. One of these costs is deductibles. Deductibles are a set amount that the patient is responsible for. The way it works is that once this set amount is paid by the patient, the rest of the cost is taken care of by the insurance company.
Benefits of major medical health insurance
As mentioned above, major medical health insurance plans cover most major illnesses and hospitalization with some exceptions. Including the services mentioned above, major medical health insurance plans also cover mental illness and addiction treatment, emergency services, pediatric treatment, outpatient services as well as maternity and newborn expenses.
Drawbacks of major medical health insurance plans
Because there is so much covered within the provisions of most major medical health insurance plans, they do cost a lot more than typical health insurance plans. That said, the peace of mind and the breadth of coverage that comes with these plans often outweigh the price one has to pay for them.
Getting major medical health insurance
Major medical health insurance can be bought through official health insurance exchanges. These exchanges are usually regulated by the federal government and patients can, therefore, get reasonable prices and deductibles from the plans they choose. One caveat of buying through these changes is that one can only purchase insurance plans through them at specific times of the year. Be sure to look out for when that is in case you are looking to get a new plan. through such exchanges. Another option is to go through licensed brokers who work on behalf of health insurance companies. These brokers are also regulated and one should always check to ensure they purchase insurance plans that meet the provisions of the Affordable Care Act.
