Your guide to supplemental health insurance
Understanding supplemental health insurance
Life can be unpredictable. When you have a sudden health challenge, supplemental health insurance helps ease the financial burden. Your main health insurance plan will cover most of your care, but other costs can add up fast.
Supplemental health plans work alongside your main health insurance plan to help cover the extra costs that can come with an accident or serious illness. After your primary insurance pays its share of medical bills, a supplemental health plan can give you cash directly. You get to decide the best use for this money, like paying for medical bills, rent, groceries, childcare, or travel to treatment.
What supplemental health insurance can cover
Regular vs. supplemental plans: Enrollment and requirements
Regular health insurance plans follow rules set by the Affordable Care Act (ACA). This means they must accept you during open enrollment, even if you have pre existing health conditions, and they can’t deny coverage based on your medical history. However, you usually can only sign up during certain times of the year or after a qualifying life event, like changing jobs or moving.
Supplemental health insurance plans work differently. Because they aren’t regulated by the ACA, insurers may ask about your health history, delay benefits for certain conditions, or limit coverage for issues you had before enrolling. On the plus side, these plans are often easier to add or cancel, and many are available to enroll in year round.
Choosing the right protection for you
If you’re thinking about adding supplemental health insurance coverage, it helps to keep things simple. Try using these tips to decide what’s right for you.
- Start with what your main plan covers. Look at your deductible and out-of-pocket maximum. These are your share of health care costs before your plan covers more.
- Think about your needs and lifestyle. If your health plan leaves you paying more upfront, or your hobbies or job puts you at higher risk for injuries, supplemental coverage can help with unexpected costs.
- Consider your risks. Think about what your health risks are and what kind of supplemental plan makes the most sense for your situation.
- Compare the costs of extra coverage. Check the monthly cost of a supplemental plan and how much you might save if an accident or illness happens. Some plans may cost less each month.
- Review each plan’s details. Review each plan’s coverage and look for any limits, things that aren’t covered, or waiting periods before the plan starts helping.
