Friday, February 13, 2009

Texas Health Insurance - Indemnity And Managed Care

By Jordan FeRoss

Health insurance in the state of Texas uses two types of health care coverage for policyholders. One is called indemnity coverage and the other one is called managed care. These health insurance coverage plans are used by employers. It is up to them as to which health care plan they will use.

Indemnity insurance usually offers more choices when it comes to your health insurance needs in Texas. Along with having more choices comes a slightly higher bill. If having more choices, especially in choosing the doctors and hospitals you prefer, is important to you then this is the type of health insurance that would work best for you.

The other type of health insurance in Texas is managed care. Managed care limits your choices when it comes to doctors and hospitals, but it also costs less than indemnity insurance does. If saving the most money is important to you then a managed care health insurance plan may be the best choice for you.

A variety of health insurance companies in Texas are responsible for supplying the indemnity insurance coverage. The patient is responsible for making their own choices in doctors and hospitals and should hold themselves accountable for only using services that they actually need in order to help keep health care costs down.

Meanwhile, there are a lot of people switching to managed care health insurance in Texas in order to save as much money as possible. Managed care health insurance plans help reduce costs by contracting with doctors and hospitals to agree to charge fees that are considered "fair and reasonable". They are also required to avoid unnecessary tests and procedures and to give referrals sparingly. By putting limits on doctors and hospitals, managed care health plans are able to keep costs down and save money for their members.

Managed care health insurance companies in Texas are also known as HMO's (Health Maintenance Organizations). They require their members to choose doctors and hospitals within their network because these are the doctors and hospitals that have agreed to their terms. Only under emergency conditions is a member allowed to use a hospital or doctor outside of the network and in those cases the patient will be billed the difference between what that hospital charged them and what the managed care plan is willing to pay. This information is listed in your policy agreement and you should be sure you read and understand it before attempting to make a claim.

If you do select an HMO as health insurance in Texas, you will have to choose a primary care doctor in order as part of the insurance coverage. The doctor that you choose will be responsible for your primary medical care. There are not many costs with an HMO because they only allow people to have the necessary medical services that are available within the coverage. There may be some things that may be complicated to you as far as the coverage policies are concerned. You'll want to look through your guide or consult customer service that handles your health insurance policy. - 15246

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