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Thursday, January 31, 2008

Health Plan Expenses Covered: Usual and Customary Posted online

Some health insurance plans are posting cost estimators, calculations of what the plan covers for various medical cares. These estimators include a range of costs in an area but their biggest benefit is that you can examine what you can expect to have considered as an ELIGIBLE EXPENSE for health care. For instance, if you go to a cardiologist, what services get what reimbursement.

When choosing a medical provider, this tool is helpful in terms of shopping for price. This tool can also be used to compare health care choices of insurers. By comparing reimbursement rates for various medical cares, individuals can better choose insurance during benefits election season.

The information is probably boring to go through, but by examining the material slowly over the course of the year individuals can get an idea of what an insurer will reimburse.

What is not clear is whether appeals can be filed earlier when consumers feel the need to use a provider at the higher end of the range.

Task a day insurance: Publishing the charges that they consider usual and customary is a great idea for consumers. While most consumers will probably find that the numbers of usual and customary charges is low, it is a means of comparing insurance companies in advance of making a health care choice. This is the biggest benefit of the tool.