Personal insurance (or individual insurance) is, in one sense, merely insurance that is issued to one person or family instead of to a large group. If you are unemployed or work for an employer that does not offer adequate group insurance coverage, you may want to buy a personal policy.
There are several types of individual policies. These include fee-for-service, HMO, POS or PPO plans. While group plan benefits might offer greater levels of coverage, you can probably get more personalized coverage options with an individual plan.
With a fee-for-service insurance policy, you can choose any doctor or hospital you like, and you pay an annual deductible (perhaps $300). The insurance company covers most of the medical costs (maybe 75%) that go beyond the deductible.An HMO (health maintenance organization) individual plan is basically prepaid health insurance. You pay a monthly premium, and the HMO offers you complete care. Usually, you can only get coverage through the HMO network of doctors.
A PPO (preferred provider organization) plan offers a mix of fee-for-service and HMO coverage. You get the limited network of doctors and hospitals like with an HMO, but you can also use non-network doctors as with a fee-for-service plan – although you’ll pay extra. This option is best if you want an HMO-like plan, but also want to use medical services outside the network.
Finally, there’s POS (point-of-service) coverage, which combines the worlds of PPO and HMO so that you will pay extra for services outside of the network unless the “primary care physician” (the first doctor you see within the network) refers you to a doctor outside the network.
We hope this brief insurance guide will help you as you look for the best individual health coverage for you.