Health Spas Guide » Preferred Provider Organization

CIGNA Health Insurance Company of Arizona Review

admin — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 20:44:27 +0000

CIGNA Health Insurance Company of Arizona is a solid choice for those looking for affordable AZ health insurance coverage. Perhaps not as well known as many other health care companies, CIGNA has been around since the year 1792 when the Insurance Company of North America (INA) was formed by a group of citizens in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The company started offering health insurance when they acquired the HMO network of Los Angeles in 1978. A year later the company acquired HMO’s in Phoenix, Arizona and in Dallas, Texas. In 1982 the company became known as CIGNA when INA and Connecticut General Insurance Corporation combined.

Nowadays CIGNA has continued to grow in every state they offer coverage in, and the state of Arizona is not an exception. CIGNA covers about 500,000 members in the state of Arizona alone through their Arizona Health Maintenance Organization (HMO) network, their Preferred Provider Organization (PPO) network and their AZ Health Savings Accounts plans, not to mention that numbers continue to grow. The largest coverage area within the state is Phoenix where an estimated 150,000 members are located and the company has over 20 offices in the metro area of this city.

Based within the state in the city of Phoenix because is the largest member area within the state as discussed before, the company offers their benefits to residents of the following counties: Apache, Coconino, Gila, La Paz, Maricopa, Mohave, Navajo, Pinal, Yavapai and Yuma. Apart from the network of plans listed above they offer Medicare Advantage plans, Medicaid and Point of Service (POS) plans. Although the company itself is not a major insurance company within the United States, it has continued to grow and experts predict that it will continue its progress through 2008. With only 5 states where it offers coverage (Tennessee and Florida being the ones where it has expanded the most), it’s only expected that the company continue to expand across America.

Within Arizona, CIGNA offers only one plan that is good for the general person that is looking for a well-developed, low-cost and comprehensive coverage Arizona health insurance plan. The plan itself is available to individuals that are 18 years of age or older, families with children up to 18 years of age or 23 if the son/daughter is a full time student and children without an adult subscriber who are at least 3 months of age. In order for you to receive coverage, the company asks that a person resides within one of the service areas for at least 9 months or more, unfortunately if you recently move to a service area you must wait the specified amount of time for you to be able to purchase a CIGNA plan.

The service areas within Arizona are divided into two. The Phoenix service area incorporates the counties of Maricopa and the city of Apache Junction. On the other hand the Tucson and Southern Arizona service area covers the counties of Cochise, Graham, Greenlee, Pima, Pinal and Santa Cruz counties.

The good thing about this one CIGNA AZ plan is that it covers everything one can think of when it comes to health care. For primary care physician (PCP) services a member must pay $25 with no limit on visits through the calendar year. For specialists they are required to pay a little bit higher ($50) but like PCP visits, there is not a limit on visits. Other services that are covered by the plan for which a member won’t have to pay a single cent are lab and x-rays and blood pressure checks.

The prescription coverage side of the policy is divided into three tiers like many other insurance companies do. For generic drugs a person should be expected to pay $15, for brand name medications they should expect to pay $40 and for specially drugs they are expected to pay up to $60 dollars. The emergency care fee is $150, however there are special places within the Arizona service areas that are sponsored by the company called CIGNA Medical Group Urgent Care , that a member can go to in order to avoid the emergency room fee. In this group urgent care facilities, a member will only have to pay $75.

The coverage for Inpatient Care holds a $1,000 year deductible for individual and a $3,000 year deductible pre family. After you have met the deductible you will only be required to pay a 20% co-insurance. For Outpatient Care the member has the same deductibles and the same 20% co-insurance after the deductible has been met. The only difference is that in outpatient every diagnostic test or x-ray such as a CT, MRI, MRA or PET would include $100 copayment.

Other important things that the plan offers include chiropractor services for $50 a visit (a limit of 12 visits per calendar year), maternity care in which you wont have to pay anything for prenatal and post-partum exams, but at the time of delivery a 20% co-insurance is applied. Vision coverage is also worth mentioning, you will pay $30 for one exam per calendar year at a CIGNA vision center. It is important to note that if you have an eye exam somewhere else, you will be charged full price for it.

Family planning services are also covered, although infertility treatment is left out of the equation and you would have to go somewhere else for that. The plan also offers short term rehabilitation, mental health services, substance abuse services and detox services. Out-of-pocket maximums for this plan are $3,000 for individual and $10,000 for family and the lifetime benefit is unlimited. This last part means that if you reach the out-of-pocket maximum within a calendar year you will not be cut off coverage.

By: James J. Robinson

Texas Individual Health Insurance

admin — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 07:28:30 +0000

Whether it’s a minor sickness, injury or a major disease, visit a doctor and the inflated medical bill will jolt you into looking for health insurance ASAP. Survey the market and you will find that there are two major individual health insurance plans, managed care health insurance plans and fee-for serviced plans.

The managed care health plans can be further categorized under the preferred provider organization (PPO) and the HMO. The highlight of the managed care plans is that these insurance companies manage your choice of health provider. They have a list of doctors and hospitals and only if you restrict your visits to the service providers in the list, then only will the plan cover your medical costs. This is not say, that you have no choice regarding the health provider. Under some managed care health plans, you can visit a doctor of your choice, but the financial benefits provided, you visit a listed doctor, are far greater.

Also, if you opt for the managed care health plan, you will need the nod of approval of a listed doctor, in case you have to visit a specialist. You must also keep in mind that usually there are many alternative ways to a treatment, and if a situation so arises, the general tendency of the insurance providing company would be to settle for the option that is the least expensive.

Fee-for-service plans: These are the traditional health insurance plans, and they are also known as the indemnity plans. They are costlier than the managed care plans, but their major advantage is that you can visit a service provider of your choice. This plan is especially suitable for those who are suffering from an illness and have faith in their own doctor only.

Apart from the above, the state of Texas also provides coverage to pregnant women and people with special disabilities.

There are also the Texas Health Insurance risk pool health coverage plans, which cover families whose income is high enough to exclude them from Medicaid, but at same time not high enough to buy private insurance. In act, the Texas Legislature also provides for two plans to provide health coverage to children between 0 to 19 years. These are the CHIP and children Medicaid program.

The aim of both these programs is to provide health coverage to children in terms of check-ups, immunization, preventive health care, labs tests and doctor visits.

By: Peter Emerson

5 Things To Look For When Buying Health Insurance

admin — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 17:14:22 +0000

The comfort and security of knowing you can see a doctor whenever the flu strikes or when you’ve broken your leg on the ski slopes is a privilege that many take for granted. Whether you have to select health insurance through your job or need to choose an independent company, there are plenty of factors that can affect your final decision. Weighing the pros and cons of various options is the best way to choose the health insurance that will accommodate your needs as an individual or family. Below are a few points to consider as you search for the best health insurance plan for you:

Know Your Choices

There are many different kinds of health insurance plans offered to the public. Knowing the various options you may qualify for will help satisfy your needs in the future. There are five type of health plans to consider: traditional indemnity, health maintenance organization (HMO), Preferred Provider Organization (PPO), Point of Service Plan (POS), and Health Savings Account (HSA). You should familiarize yourself with each option.

Know the Advantages and Disadvantages

Out of the five main types of health insurance plans, each one contains their own set of advantages and disadvantages. For example, with a traditional indemnity plan, individuals seeking complete freedom in the medical providers they can select should choose this option. But freedom comes with a price; the insurance plans produce higher rates and costs. This means individuals will face few restrictions, but also have to cope with no financial incentives that lessen patient financial responsibility.

Coverage and Benefits

An important factor to consider when choosing a health insurance plan includes the type of benefits offered and whether or not they will accommodate your needs. Some of the coverage capabilities to ask about include maternity, prescription, childcare, immunizations, emergency visits, and annual checkups.

Costs

Seeking information on the premium or employee contribution associated with a particular health insurance plan is important to make an effective decision. The cost you are responsible for will depend on the type of plan you choose; the deductible, coinsurance and co-payment; lifetime maximums, and the limitation of plan benefit coverage.

Are You Considered “Hard to Insure?”

If you are labeled as a “hard to insure” case, you may not find the most cost-efficient or accommodating health coverage. A few things to keep in mind include: avoiding lifetime maximums of less than $500,000, straying from plans that only offer hospital and surgical benefits, seeking out an HMO plan that tend to be the least expensive, and researching health insurance coverage provided by professional organizations, school alumni programs or unions.

By: Gabriel J. Adams

Medical Health Insurance

admin — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 09:28:55 +0000

Choosing Health Insurance Policies

When it comes to health insurance, women have special needs. There are so many different health issues that women go through that it is important to find health insurance to cover all of them.

The first thing to look at is what your company offers. There are so many different options, but the two most common are fee-for-service and managed care. Find out which one is offered to you, and go from there. Different plans can have different providers and services, cost and quality of care.

* Fee-for-Service – In this plan, you go to the doctor of your choice, and they send a bill to the insurance company. You get billed for the rest. Usually, there is a flat fee per year that you must pay before the insurance company will start to cover expenses.
* Managed Care – This is the most common type of plan, and it is broken down into several different categories; Health Maintenance Organizations (HMO), Preferred Provider Organization (PPO), and Point of Service (POS). With HMOs, as long as you use a doctor or hospital in your network, your out of pocket costs should be minimal. With a PPO, although you might have a larger network from which to choose your doctor, your premium will be higher. With a POS, your plan is similar to a PPO, but your care will be managed by your Primary Care Physician.

Which one you pick will depend upon your health circumstances. For example, if you are pregnant, or plan to become pregnant, you might want to pick a health plan that covers pregnancy, to keep your out of pocket costs down. If you have cancer, you will want to pick one that has good doctors and hospitals in the network. Also, if you already have a doctor whom you love, you might want to make sure that you will be able to see them still with the new health insurance policy that you pick.

There are even a number of government-run resources for women without health insurance. There are community health centers, public hospitals, school-based center, public housing primary care centers, migrant health centers and special needs facilities. Other government sponsored programs include:
* Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, & Children (WIC).
* National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program (NBCCEDP).
* Maternal and Child Health Services.
* Indian Health Service (IHS).
* Projects for Assistance in Transition from Homelessness (PATH).

One of the most difficult situations for women is when they make too much money for public government assistance, but not enough to pay for medical care or health insurance. In this case, they might be able to find temporary insurance through their state, or a low-cost health insurance option through a labor union, professional clubs or organization. There are also free clinics and prescription drug assistance. Women who are coping with cancer can find many government sponsored and volunteer organization, and the Ryan White CARE Act gives aid to women with HIV/AIDS who have little or no insurance, and a limited income.

By: Ryan Baba

North Carolina Health Insurance

admin — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 05:32:20 +0000

Nowadays, you can find a variety of health insurance plans in the United States and North Carolina, the home of many brilliant physicians, hospitals, and reliable health insurance companies.

With the cost of health care getting higher and higher, you are likely to land in deep trouble if you have a serious accident or a major illness. Buying health insurance can save you from a financial disaster. Armed with health insurance, you can protect yourself and your family if you are in need of expensive medical treatment. In that case, a third party will pay your expenses, which can be an insurance company or even your employer.

Most people receive health insurance through their jobs. Called group insurance, it is less expensive and in many cases the employer takes responsibility of the total or partial cost. Although some employers offer only one health insurance plan, some others offer you a choice of plans: a fee-for-service plan, a health maintenance organization (HMO), or a preferred provider organization (PPO). Most of the plans have some kind of managed care program to help control costs. All HMOs, PPOs, and several fee-for-service plans, have managed care. In case you don’t get this benefit from your employer, you can go for an individual policy.

Health insurance companies in North Carolina offer several plans for individuals, couples and families. In NC, you find group health insurance programs for employees of all sizes of businesses. Health insurance plans in North Carolina are not beyond your reach because you can select a policy that matches your budget. In North Carolina many public and private employers offer a managed care option to employees. The state of North Carolina offers many types of managed care options to state employees and their dependents, and it also has a portion of the Medicaid population enrolled in managed care plans.

There are a number of health insurance companies licensed and approved to do business in North Carolina. The choice is yours.

By: Eric Morris