Why do you need a health insurance? Health insurance policy is specifically designed to cover all damages that you may suffer related to your health. If you are a policy holder then your insurance company would provide you with financial reimbursement or free treatment procedure for any health related problems, according to the clauses of your policy. How can health insurance help you? Different companies offer different health insurance facility in different states. But in general the health insurance policy provides some basic benefiting factors * Indemnity Policies (Traditional Fee-for-Service Insurance) * Preferred Provider Organizations (PPOs) * Health Maintenance Organizations (HMOs or Managed Care) * Multiple Employer Welfare Arrangements (MEWAs) * The self-insured employer-sponsored plan 1.Indemnity Policies(Traditional Fee-for-Service Insurance): According to this coverage you can choose the hospital or doctor to proceed with your medical treatment on your own sweet will. The policy rules however provide a deductible that may vary according to policy claims. But you are also provided choices to opt for the amount of deductible that you pay before you avail the policy benefits. After you pay the deductible amount, the other charges are given back to you by the insurance company according to the clauses of the policy. The employee benefit booklet specifies the terms and conditions of the policy in detail. Regarding any inquires you may also consult the agent of your insurance company. 2.Preferred Provider Organizations(PPOs): This coverage does not give you the option of choosing a doctor or a hospital completely on your own. But the insurance company would provide you with a list of preferred doctors and hospitals. Amongst them you may opt for the one of your choice. You may avail the entire benefit of your insurance policy upto your contract limit only if you proceed with your medical treatment within the preferred list. In case you move to a doctor or hospital beyond the preferred list you would be “out of network” and can only avail a negligible amount of health care cost. In case of any query you may always refer to your agent. To confirm if the insurance company is a licensed or a managed care one, you may opt for documents related to the regulatory information. Normally they are always regulated by the CID or the Department Managed Care depending upon the condition that if the company is a licensed insurance company or a manage care one. 3.Health Maintenance Organizations (HMOs or Managed Care): HMO (Health Maintenance Organizations) is a health care service that is prepaid. If you become a member of HMO (Health Maintenance Organization) then you can avail health care service from doctors and hospitals affiliated with Health Maintenance Organizations (HMO) membership. It covers a lot of health benefits including precautionary measures. The entire HMO (Health Maintenance Organizations) network functions in a planned manner. Perhaps for such a reason they are able to provide a quality service. If you want to sign up with HMO (Health Maintenance Organizations), you only need to pay a fee that covers the entire health care expense ranging from your routine check up expense to your hospitalization cost. At the first stage, according to common HMO (Health Maintenance Organizations) practice, you would have to opt for a primary care doctor to monitor and locate your complication. If you require more specialized treatment then the concerned doctor would refer you to a specialized doctor of the concerned problem. However, despite providing outstanding service, the policy limits those who stay beyond HMO (Health Maintenance Organizations) functional zone. It has a limited and restricted coverage region. 4. Multiple Employer Welfare Arrangements (MEWA): MEWA is an employee benefit plan that is covered by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA). It is thereby regulated by the department of labour under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act. This is an interesting and attractive coverage because at times it provides insurance coverage at a much lower rate in comparison to the market rate. 5. The Self-insured Employer-Sponsored Plans: This coverage by itself has a unique feature. Normally people under the age of 65 opt for this coverage. This plan mainly offers a complete coverage of health insurance plans that includes some special medicinal benefits, depending on the policy conditions. . The premium rate is also said to be comparatively low .The plan even helps you to avail federal tax subsidies against it. How would it help you if health insurance is made compulsory by law? There has always been a raging controversy regarding making health insurance compulsory by law. In such a condition it would not only help you to save tax deduction but also help you to avail some security benefits, formulate the coverage in a easier manner, restrict the insurance companies in discriminating and denying coverage to the sick. In most of the states the government has now taken up some Medicare programs to insure the elderly people and the bed ridden renal patients. The article "Really, what good comes out of health insurance?" gives us an interesting information health insurance and informs us about the essence of health insurance one step further.