What Health Insurance Should I Get?

Health insurance is a big question mark for a lot of us.

Whether you have it or you don’t, it’s not very clear as to what’s going on, when you will truly be insured by a company, and which company you should throw your lot in with.

In this article, I’m going to go through what insurance is, how it works, and what are the best options on the market right now. Keep in mind, almost all of what I have in this article I got from USA Today and the article they published on this subject. So I’ll mostly be pulling from this source.

If you want to see their article, it’s right here.

So what are we waiting for? Let’s get right into it!

Yeah, I Know What Health Insurance Is, It’s Pretty Simple Stuff… Right?

Health Insurance Definition:

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“A contract that requires your health insurer to pay some or all of your health care costs in exchange for a premium.”

–HealthCare.gov

HealthCare also says this in an article of theirs:

• The 4 “metal” categories: There are 4 categories of health insurance plans: Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Platinum. These categories show how you and your plan share costs. Plan categories have nothing to do with quality of care.
• Your total costs for health care: You pay a monthly bill to your insurance company (a “premium”), even if you don’t use medical services that month. You pay out-of-pocket costs, including a deductible, when you get care. It’s important to think about both kinds of costs when shopping for a plan.
• Plan and network types — HMO, PPO, POS, and EPO: Some plan types allow you to use almost any doctor or healthcare facility. Others limit your choices or charge you more if you use providers outside their network.

Basically, health insurance is getting a company to pay large amounts of your medical bills that you may have, but in exchange, you have to pay a (usually monthly) cost to that company to keep your account.

Simple enough? Good, because there’s more:

If you’re unfortunate enough to incur medical bills, you still have to pay what’s called a “deductible”, which means there’s a certain amount you’ll still have to pay for your medical bills until you reach the “deductible limit”, and that’s when insurance kicks in to take care of the rest.

So, say you have a medical expense that’s $3,000, yeah? Your deductible might be $500. So you have to pay the medical practitioner’s office $500, and then insurance will cover the remaining $2,500. That’s how it works almost all the time. Now, there are different kinds of agreements you can have and not all insurance companies are the same, but by and large this is what you should expect.

Alright, Alright, I’m Following Along. So, What Are My Options?

I’m Still Not Sure…

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According to the USA Today, these are the four best health insurance providers of 2024:

• Kaiser Permanente

What you need to know:

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This is a massive private nonprofit healthcare company.

Its presence spans eight different states (as well as Washington, D.C.)

If you live in California, Colorado, Georgia, Hawaii, Maryland, Oregon, Virginia or Washington, you may be eligible for a Kaiser Permanente health insurance plan.

This health insurance company offers individual and family health maintenance organization (HMO) plans or exclusive provider organization (EPO) plans. You can also purchase Medicaid, including Medi-Cal, or Medicare plans if you qualify.

In the USA Today’s analysis: “Kaiser’s coordinated care experience offers an integrated approach within its own network. Though this can limit flexibility, it’s part of the reason why Kaiser Permanente has the lowest level of member complaints in our rating of the best health insurance companies.”

Kaiser Permanente also has an average grade of 4.2 out of 5 from the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA), which is just insane, and the highest rating in the country at the moment.

Pros vs. Cons

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Pros

• Affordable rates.
• Health care plans for all ages.
• High rating from the National Committee for Quality Assurance.
• Very low member complaints compared to the national average.

Cons

• No PPO option is available.
• All care must occur within the Kaiser Permanente network.
• Coverage is only available in 8 states plus Washington, D.C.
• Potential for long wait times to see specialists.

• Aetna

What You Need To Know

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These people have both HMO and EPO Affordable Care Act (ACA) in most states.

So what’s an HMO? What’s an EPO? Well, I’ll tell you!

An HMO plan means Health Maintenance Organization. Basically it just means that you get your care personalized to you.

EPO means Exclusive Provider Organization. This one means that it’s a plan where services are covered only if you go to doctors, specialists, or hospitals in the plan’s network (except in an emergency).

Lastly, they have individual plans called CVS’s.

These “provide access to no-cost or low-cost care at more than 1,100 national MinuteClinic locations inside CVS or Target stores. Aetna also offers supplemental coverages, like dental, vision, accident, critical illness and hospital indemnity plans.

Eligible Aetna health insurance plans include access to the Attain by Aetna app, which offers rewards and incentives for completing healthy activities. The app combines your personal health history and wearable device data to provide personalized tips for nutrition, mindfulness, sleep and long-term health improvements.”

Pros vs Cons

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Pros

• Affordable plan rates.
• Discounts at CVS MinuteClinics.
• Rewards for living a healthy lifestyle with some plans.

Cons

• No PPO plan available.
• No short-term

• Blue Cross Blue Shield

What You Need To Know

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Blue Cross Blue Shield is an interesting animal in its own right.

In the whole Blue Cross Blue Shield (BCBS) Association you’ve got yourself more than 30 individual companies that work under one banner.

BCBS has locations in around 200 countries, so most people who want to live or work internationally have this one, but keep in mind: because it’s so loosely held together via the banner each company is under, the experience you have there might be a little or a lot different, depending on where you are.

They do have PPOs – preferred provider organization – which means you get to choose your own doctor and don’t have to worry about getting a referral to see a specialist.

Pros Vs Cons

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Pros

• Global health care coverage.
• Network flexibility.
• Member perks and discounts.

Cons

• Expensive rates.
• Regional customer satisfaction can vary.
• Not all plans come with Blue365 eligibility.

• United Healthcare

What You Need To Know

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UnitedHealthcare has 1.3 million care professionals and physicians within its network, making it easier to get in-network health care anywhere in the country.

UnitedHealthcare is available on the Affordable Care Act (ACA) marketplace in 18 states: Alabama, Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, New York, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and Washington.

Some health insurance coverage is also available directly through UnitedHealthcare in all 50 states and Washington, D.C., though available plans vary by state.

UnitedHealthcare also offers short-term health insurance, Medicare, Medicaid and supplemental insurance policies, such as critical illness, hospital, dental, accident and international travel insurance.

Pros Vs Cons

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Pros

• Supplemental add-ons can boost health insurance coverage.
• Large national network for care throughout the country.

Cons

• Plans can be expensive.
• No PPO option available.