Health Plan Choices
How should you choose your health plan?
Choosing the right health plan is important. It can also be difficult. Today, there are more choices and more kinds of health plans than ever before. Use this report, along with cost and benefit information available from your employer or the health plan to choose the best health plan.
Consider the following questions:
- Is your preferred doctor or health care provider available in the health plan?
- If you have a doctor or other type of provider you want to see, find out if he or she participates in the health plan. To get this information, review the health plan's provider directory and call the provider's office or the health plan to confirm this information.
- If you are looking for a new doctor, review the list of doctors in the health plan's provider directory for someone that appeals to you. Are there other providers or facilities you think you may need?
- If you have a doctor or other type of provider you want to see, find out if he or she participates in the health plan. To get this information, review the health plan's provider directory and call the provider's office or the health plan to confirm this information.
- Does the health plan offer the benefits you want?
- Based on what you know about your family's health, does the plan cover health services your family will need?
- How much will it cost?
- The amount of your monthly premium and other out-of-pocket expenses will depend on how you get your insurance coverage.
- Look at monthly premiums and copayments, as well as charges you might have to pay if you decide to go outside your health plan's provider network.
- While it's tempting to choose the health plan that costs less, it's important to look for quality first.
- The amount of your monthly premium and other out-of-pocket expenses will depend on how you get your insurance coverage.
- Which health plans performed best in this report?
- From the health plans that seem to best fit your needs, check their performance in this report.
- Pay the most attention to issues that are most important to you and your family. For example, if you have a young child, you might be most interested in the performance measures in the Care for Kids section.
- Also, do not make decisions based on small differences that are not meaningful. Look at all factors that contribute to a health plan's performance, not just results for a single measure.
- From the health plans that seem to best fit your needs, check their performance in this report.
To get additional information from the health plans you are most interested in joining, see telephone numbers for health plans.
