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Aetna Health Insurance
by Steve Theunissen |
So, you think it’s time you started looking into Aetna Health insurance, huh? Aetna health insurance is certainly a wise choice. Aetna is the grand daddy of health insurance providers and has a proven reputation for quality and reliability. But what important information should you be aware when selecting your Aetna health insurance plan?
Individual or Group Insurance?
Having decided that you will take out an Aetna health insurance plan, you now need to look at the various options available to you. Private Aetna health insurance cover works well for many people, especially those who are self employed or decide for whatever reason not to avail themselves of an employment group based Aetna Health insurance plan. On a comparison basis, the individual Aetna health insurance plan offers more flexibility, portability and choice of options. Generally, however, the employer group Aetna health insurance plans are more cost effective.
HMO, PPO or Traditional?
Your next step in selecting the right Aetna health insurance plan for you is to decide whether you want a traditional indemnity plan where you choose you own doctor but pay higher premiums, or an HMO (Health Management organization) Plan, where an area doctor is assigned to you at a lower premium. Another alternative is to take out a PPO Aetna health insurance plan. This is a preferred provider organization plan, where you can choose a doctor from a list of local approved providers. The premium cost here is mid range between an HMO plan and a traditional indemnity plan.
Limits and Maximums
Some plans will only cover 80% of your costs. Others will cover 100%. 20% of a huge bill is still a big bill. Your probably better off sticking with an Aetna health insurance plan that covers you for 100% of your costs. Most Aetna health insurance plans will offer you a wide range of excess options. The higher the excess, the lower your monthly premiums will be.
Extras
You may find that your Aetna health insurance plan comes with attractive bells and whistles. It is important, however, that you let these sidetrack you and that you focus primarily on the base plan. After all, you wouldn’t want to end up with an Aetna health insurance plan that covers you for all the small things but that falls down when it comes to the things that really count.
Do You Really Need It?
If you’re young and healthy, you may be thinking that you really don’t need to fork out money on Aetna health insurance. Big mistake. When you’re young and healthy is exactly when you should be looking into an Aetna health insurance plan. Why? Because if you suffer and illness or injury before getting covered, that condition may preclude you from ever getting cover at all. On the other hand your preexisting condition will certainly mean that you will be paying much higher premiums. Once you take out an Aetna health insurance plan, however, the policy remains largely unchanged – even if you develop a serious illness or health condition later in life. The choice is yours.
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