Steps to Find a Reliable Health Insurance Carrier
It is understandable when people get sceptical about insurance carriers. After all, they are these companies are entrusted with only a person’s wealth but his health as well. And after all the bad press doing the rounds about denying claims, not providing adequate coverage and the likes, questions about health insurance carriers are bound to be asked.
The most obvious way to stay away from all the cynicism that surrounds insurance companies,
while buying health plans, is to go for companies that have satisfied beneficiaries over a long period of time now. Aetna is operating in the US health insurance market for over 150 years, while MVP, a relatively new carrier is providing healthcare to consumers for more than 2 decades now. It is always a safe bet to purchase medical plans from companies like the MVP HealthCare and Aetna.
Before deciding on an insurance plan, it is important to evaluate the health insurance company and its affiliate healthcare network. The things that one should be looking to evaluate when deciding an insurance company are:
a) Customer Service: The customer service is the biggest indication of a company intention. If the customer is more important than the policy and the premium that he is paying, then it reflects in the way the company treat him. Fantastic customer service is the sign of a trustable insurance company.
b) A large and solid network: If a company has a large network across the country, then there is no fear of it folding up and closing down on fine day. But that does not mean that a company that does not have a pan-American presence is not trustworthy. MVP, for example, operates only in 3 states- Vermont, New York and New Hampshire. But a customer base of about 75000 members in just three states is a strong testimony of its reliability.
c) Competitive Pricing: If the price is too high, then why should one bother paying more for the same coverage? Similarly, if the prices are ridiculously low in comparison to the competitors, for the same coverage, then there is something fishy going on for sure. Competitive pricing is a sign of the insurance company being real and genuine.
It is important to understand that health insurance companies are not non-profit organisations established only to serve the people. They also need to make money. But that does not turn them into unethical or questionable establishments. Insurance companies are governed by regulatory bodies and those not adhering to the guidelines risk their license to sell health policies to the residents.
With the reforms coming into place, the rules for insurance companies to operate in the US health market have become stricter. The mandatory insurance law has spurned some spurious companies for sure, but the state regulators as well as the federal government have already begun to crack down on these fake health carriers and their dubious policies.
There is nothing that beats getting a preferred policy from a reliable and trustworthy company. In an age and society, where medical expenses are on a constant rise, it is important to find the health insurance company that one can trust for their healthcare as well as their money.
