Verified Document

Do Most People Know Everything About Their Health Insurance Plans  Research Paper

Health Insurance Consumer Knowledge Do most people know everything about their health insurance plans?

The two plans investigated for this assignment are Blue Cross Blue Shield and Humana, two of the most widely used and recognized health insurance companies in the United States.

Do you think that in general most people know everything about their health insurance plans?

The healthcare reform act of 2009 sought to make the healthcare system in the United States more navigable for Americans and to prevent health insurance companies from taking advantage of their customers. It seems, however, that the dense amount of legal and financial information embedding in the policies published by most companies is beyond the comprehension of most Americans (Gabel et al. 1987). Most people probably are aware of their emergency and primary care coverage but might not know about other less publicized and critical elements of insurance coverage plans which may offer valuable benefits, such as health club reimbursements, mail order bulk pharmaceutical ordering, and discounts on smoking cessation aids and programs.

Furthermore, most people do not have an objective adviser who can assist them in making the most of their insurance coverage. Representatives within the insurance company will be more committed to the bottom line of the company and doctors are often not trained in the intricacies of health insurance coverage and medical billing. This indicates that people do not have health advocates...

The human resources director may assist in this task for employment-based insurance coverage, but they, too, often lack specialized training in health insurance navigations and counseling.
2. Do they know the type that they have and what it means to them as a patient?

It does seem that due to the tendency of health insurance companies to issue identification cards to those with coverage that most people are aware of what their specific plan is called. It seems that due to the euphemistic ways in which insurance companies name their policies that many people would not be aware of which tier of coverage they have unless they were given an option and a chart comparing the benefits of each program type. For example, in Connecticut, Blue Cross Blue Shield offers the following programs: "Century Preferred Direct, Blue Care Direct, Lumenos, and Tonik." There is no indication based on the names of these programs which offers the most or the least comprehensive coverage (Anthem 2011). The use of acronyms such as "PPO" and "HMO" -- standing for health maintenance organization and preferred provider organization, respectively, is not widely understood by the general public.

3. Do they understand the difference between deductibles and co pays and coinsurance and out of pocket expenses?

The ways in which terms…

Sources used in this document:
Works Cited

Anthem. (2011)Anthem Connecticut Health Plans. Retrieved from: http://www.anthem.com/health-insurance/plans-and-benefits/health-insurance-plan/CT

J Gabel, C Jajich-Toth, K Williams, S Loughran and K. Haugh. (1987). "The commercial health insurance industry in transition" Health Affairs, 6, no.3:46-60

Humana. (2011). Individual Insurance Plans from Humana. Retrieved from: http://www.humana.com/individual_insurance/insurance_products/humanaone_medical_plans.aspx

United States Government. (2011). Healthcare.gov. Retrieved from: www.Healthcare.gov
Cite this Document:
Copy Bibliography Citation

Related Documents

Obama Administration's Health Care Plan
Words: 4599 Length: 12 Document Type: Thesis

While people who work with these kinds of issues can present their best guesses, they cannot actually provide proof that the Obama Administration's health care plan is good or bad, or how much it will cost. The 'if only' propositions that are in much of the plan tend to make statisticians and fact-checkers nervous, simply because of the nature of these kinds of propositions -- they rely on the

Healthcare Reform History of Socialized
Words: 2697 Length: 8 Document Type: Term Paper

What this means is that the lifetime limits on most benefits are barred for all latest health insurance plans. Another interesting thing is the reviews premium increase (Wakefield, 2010). This is saying that insurance companies must now openly defend any type of unreasonable rate hikes. The last thing is that it helps a person get the most from all of their premium dollars. In other words, a person's premium

Healthcare Dan Hall, a Self-Described
Words: 2809 Length: 10 Document Type: Thesis

A recent article touted the 6.1% growth of spending on medical care in 2007. The same article cautioned however that, "most experts know that no matter what the numbers say, there is still a great deal of work ahead to reform a healthcare system that is still fundamentally broken -- and is facing one of the worst economic recessions in decades" (Lubell, 2009, pg. 6). Government and industry officials have been

Healthcare Policy
Words: 3064 Length: 9 Document Type: Term Paper

Healthcare Policy: An Overview of the Uninsured and Underinsured in America An alarming number of people in the United States today do not have health-care coverage. Many of these people live in urban areas and their income is below the official government poverty line. However, some of them make up to 200% of the government poverty amount, and not all of these uninsured and underinsured individuals are inner-city minority individuals. According to a

Healthcare Must Be Provided by the Government to All Citizens Who...
Words: 2176 Length: 6 Document Type: Research Paper

Health Care As human beings, our health and longevity have never been better. Many people today live to 100 years and beyond, and often in good and active health. One of the major reasons for this is better health care and more access to health care for more people. On the other hand, however, many people do not have access to the same health care services as others. Often, the main

Healthcare Reform Review of Literature:
Words: 6070 Length: 20 Document Type: Literature Review

(Menzel, 1990, p. 3) Fisher, Berwick, & Davis alude to the idea of integration in health care, with providers linking as well as creating networks of electronic medical records and other cost improvement tactics. The United States and other nations over the last twenty or so years, have begun a sweeping change in health care delivery, regarding the manner in which health information is input, stored and accessed. Computer use

Sign Up for Unlimited Study Help

Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.

Get Started Now