Are Limited Health Networks a Poor Choice, or Should I Pay for More Freedom?

Posted in Fee-For-Service Plans , Health Insurance , HMO , PPO

February 5th, 2009

As your own boss, you are responsible for researching and choosing your own private health care plan. Luckily, you live a healthy life style with no smoking, healthy eating habits and an above average level of fitness. As the day comes to finally commit to your health insurance plan, you are torn between choosing a limited health network plan or a freedom plan. There are some things to consider before making your final choice.

Limited health networks are not a poor choice compared to paying for more freedom if you are comfortable working within the parameters the health insurance requires of you. One pro is that the monthly premiums may be less than those allowing more freedom. If you dont have any idea where to start looking for doctors, there is automatically a huge roster of in-network doctors for you to choose from.

However, there cons to choosing a limited health network plan.Your deductibles may be higher. You also need to ask yourself if you are going to be okay using doctors within their network, because a limited health network plan would not pay for you to choose a doctor outside the network.

If you have a doctor who you have a long-term relationship with, you may want to pay more for freedom. The monthly cost will be greater then the latter, but your deductibles should be lower.

Both limited health networks and freedom plans are good options depending on your personal preference. Before committing to either one, make your list of advantages and disadvantages.