Individual Arizona Health Insurance Policy Types

Types of Individual Health Insurance Policies

Individual health insurance may cover one person or all eligible members of a family under one policy. People usually buy individual health insurance policies because they do not have group insurance or they want to supplement their group insurance. Individual health policies also are used to supplement Medicare and to assure that a person has some continued coverage between jobs.

Health insurance policies contain certain benefits and policy provisions required by law. These benefits and provisions can vary depending on the policy and whether you are considering individual or family coverage. A policy may or may not have a deducible that must be paid by you before benefits begin.

There are several types of health insurance policies:

Basic Medical-Surgical Expense

This insurance provides benefit payments for charges made by a physician for medical care and surgical procedures.

Hospital Confinement Indemnity

This insurance pays a fixed amount for each day that you are confined in a hospital. The benefits paid are not based on your actual expenses. This policy is best as a supplement to other insurance and should not be used as a substitute for broader medical expense coverage.

Major Medical Expense

This type of policy is usually effective in covering serious illness or injury where costs are high. Expenses you incur both in and out of the hospital, including drugs and doctors' visits, usually are covered. Most major medical plans contain a deductible -- the amount you pay before the insurance company begins paying benefits. After your expenses exceed the deductible amount, benefits usually are paid as a percentage of actual expenses, often 80 percent.