Choosing a health plan can is overwhelming as I have to choose between PPOs, POS, and HMOs. Why are there so many options and how should I evaluate one versus another?
Much of that is answered above. First, you need to align yourself with an expert broker, which broker can determine what is best for you after completing a due diligence analysis of your needs. Second, you need to determine whether you are happy with the Kaiser model of medical benefits or one that will give you far more freedom of choice to choose those providers that you feel are best for you and your family. Third, you need to make sure that your providers are going to be in the network of physicians that your plan will cover. Fourth, you need to figure out how much you can afford on both a monthly basis for premiums as well as worse case scenario, out of pocket expenses, if something major were to happen. All insurance plans have what they call a stop-loss protection measure. Meaning, even in a worse case scenario situation and you were hospitalized for a number of weeks or months, as long as you remained "in-network", you would never be out of pocket more than $x amount. The "X" factor, or amount, is what will drive your premium costs. Meaning, the lower the X number is, the higher your monthly premiums will be.