Most employees in America consider healthcare coverage the most important of all employee benefits. But this is also an attractive benefit for businesses too. Businesses buy health coverage far cheaper than individuals. Businesses also stand to gain specific tax benefits and this makes health coverage a very cost effective way to compensate employees.
There are three popular health benefit programs for employees: traditional, HMO, and PPO. Some employers will offer just one or two of the three. Other business houses, especially ones with a diverse group of employees, will opt for all three.
Traditional health insurance offers flexibility to employees. They can visit any doctor or hospital they want and receive coverage for any treatment covered under the policy.
Cost is a major problem. Premiums for traditional insurance are generally higher than for other kinds of plans. It is also costly for employees, because most plans require costly deductibles and co-insurance with each visit.
An HMO, or health maintenance organization, forms a network of doctors and hospitals, and employers pay a set fee per employee enrolled in the plan. HMOs cover visits by members only to doctors and hospitals that are part of the network.
A PPO, or preferred provider organization, is a group of physicians and hospitals that provide health care at a reduced cost to PPO members. Visits to doctors and hospitals outside the network are, however, not fully covered and require higher payments from the patient.
Traditionally before choosing a type of health insurance and a plan, you would visit a broker. However, the Internet makes that all the much easier now. There are many tools online that help you compare and price different plans, policies and insurers.
Two such tools are http://www.ahip.org/ and http://www.ehealthinsurancesource.com Remember to look at plans and rates that cover you, and that your employer uses.
