How to find good Limited Health Insurance Plan - Most “Mini-Med” Plans have “Mini” benefits

With the cost of group medical insurance plans for businesses continuing to sore, a popular alternative for companies that want to offer their employees at least some benefit is the recently introduced “mini”-med or limited insurance plan. But insurance experts advise small business owners that may be interested in such plans, not to always go with the cheapest plan. Some of these low-cost insurance plans are not only “mini” in price but mini in coverage.

That is not to say that there are no good low cost limited health insurance plans out there. There are, and here are a few tips on how to find a good and legitimate low cost mini med health insurance plan.

Health insurance experts agree when looking at a limited benefit medical insurance plans you need to look closely at the following:

1. The Daily Hospitalization Benefit Amount. The lowest you should go even on a limited benefit plan is $500.00 dollars a day, and even that is really too low of a benefit. Anything less should certainly be avoided, and experts agree that you really should try to purchase a plan that allows $900- $1,100.00 a day for hospitalizations.
2. Doctors visits – again even a limited benefit plan should pay at least $40.00 per doctors visit
3. Accident Expenses – be careful here, many mini-med plans have a limitation on pay out for accidents, and may be limited to a fixed amount for accidents per year rather than a “per accident” amount.
4. Emergency Room Visits – Many mini med health insurance plans pay very little for ER visits, as little as $100.00. The average trip to the ER costs at least $500-$700.00. Any mini med plan you look at should offer at least $250.00 per ER visit, if you expect it to cover any significant Emergency bills.

As a business owner once you have found a provider that you believe is offering you a decent limited benefit health insurance plan, you should ask how well do they know the local hospitals and healthcare providers, and how experienced are they at negotiating the best rate for fees with them. Often it is the insurer’s ability to negotiate the best rates with healthcare providers for their members that can add the greatest values to a low cost mini med plan.