Healthcare Insurance is basically an insurance which pays a part or the total cost of a particular individual spreading the danger of him incurring health expenses over a number of persons. In other words it is a form of life insurance. It is important to remember that health insurance is very different from health care in the sense that one pays for his own treatment. While health care is for your current health condition and any preventive health care you may require in the future; healthcare is for general health maintenance. Health insurance is mandatory in some countries like Canada, USA, UK and some parts of Europe while it is not mandated in others. For those people who are still unaware of what it is, here is a brief information: Click here for more information Disability insurance.
The main aim behind the creation of health insurance was to cover the expenses (both direct and indirect) involved in the medical care of individuals insured under it. This insurance however has become so much a commodity like any other product, that a vast range of policies are available in the market. In fact, there is such a huge variety in health insurance schemes that it can be difficult to choose from them. Here we have listed few of them.
The Direct written Premiums plan is the most popular type of health insurance. This type is generally purchased directly from the insurer, without the involvement of any middleman or agent. In this case, the insurer deducts a certain amount of money from your regular paycheck and then pays the amount on a direct basis to the health insurance company. Though this is the cheapest option amongst all health plans, it is also considered as the most risky as most people tend to cancel their direct written premiums in case of any new insurer.
The next category is the Indirect written Premiums. These are considered by many as the best insurance plans for those looking for cost effectiveness. In this case, the insurer pays some money to the healthcare service provider, and the consumer has to pay the rest of the amount on his own. In this regard, Indirect health service plans have a very large market share, though the growth of Direct written premiums is less than that of Indirect plans.
Lastly, the Private Health Care Insurance covers only a small group of people or a single person. In this case, the consumer gets coverage from the insurance company exclusively. These plans are considered expensive compared to Indirect plans, and the private healthcare insurance coverage provided by them is not as much reliable as the direct written premiums ones. Despite being expensive, these coverage options do have a very large market share and their demand is growing at a faster rate.
Private health services are growing faster than any other category of health insurance product. Though the direct written premiums plans are still dominating the market, the private healthcare coverage is becoming a major factor in the overall health insurance scenario. However, the growing trend of Private health insurance has led to many fraudulent companies entering the market and have cheated the people by providing fake health services and making unbelievable claims. To avoid these problems, the consumers should only deal with reputed companies for their private health insurance plans.
