Sunday, August 4, 2013

Health Insurance Hieroglyphics

It's the open enrollment period for APL's work - that lovely time of year when we spend hours beating our heads against the wall in the hopes that it will help us understand the hieroglyphics of insurance plan options (newsflash: it doesn't). We're never quite sure how to pick the plan that has the best coverage at the best price. What kind of monthly payment can we afford? How high of a deductible do we want? Can you tell if there's a co-pay? How much is the co-pay? What if I need to see a specialist? How much is covered after the deductible is met? What is covered before the deductible is met? Will my enbrel be covered? What if one of us needs to be hospitalized?

The information provided by the insurance companies does virtually nothing to help us figure it all out. Why do they have to make it so crazy complicated?!?! We did, however, find this video that at least clearly explains the difference between an HMO, PPO, and HDHP plan. We found it pretty useful to have this straightforward explanation so I thought I'd share the video here.  

Best of luck to everyone in deciphering the crazy hieroglyphics of health insurance!!

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