Starting next year, there will be new, easier to understand, insurance forms. These forms will be standardized, and insurance companies would be required to use them. This will make it much easier for consumers to compare health insurance plans, in order to find out which one is best for them.
The new, standardized, health insurance forms were released today by the Department of Health and Human Services. Consumers will be receiving these six page forms beginning on March 23, 2012. These forms were created after several different surveys showed that most Americans find it difficult to understand and select health insurance plans. This is primarily due to the complexity of previous insurance forms.
The new insurance forms will be much easier to read and understand. You can think of the standardized forms as the health insurance version of the labels you see on breakfast cereals. It is pretty easy to pick up two different boxes of cereal, read the label, and instantly discover which one has the most calories, or the least sugar. Soon, it will be just as easy to compare different insurance plans.
Certain types of information will be on these new forms. It will show what each different health insurance policy will charge for premiums. It will list the amount of deductibles that the plan requires a person to pay for out of pocket before the insurance will be of any use. It will also list other types of out of pocket expenses.
There will be three different scenarios that would explain exactly how much a person would have to pay for common medical services. It shows what the plan will cover for a person who is having a baby, for a person who is undergoing breast cancer treatment, and for a person who is managing diabetes. Finally, it will be much easier to do an “apples to apples” type of comparison between different health insurance policies!
A glossary of insurance terms will be included in the forms that will soon be sent to consumers. It will contain definitions of terms like “co-insurance”, and “co-payments”. People need to understand what those words mean because it will directly relate to how much money they will be paying for a particular health insurance policy.
One of the most interesting things that will come with the new insurance forms, in my opinion, is directions on how to file a grievance or an appeal. Right now, when insurance companies deny someone’s claim, or refuse to cover something, most people have no idea how to fight it. This information will be extremely helpful to consumers.
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