Catastrophic Policies

Health Insurance - Catastrophic Health Insurance Coverage

There are healthy people who rarely need any medical care whatsoever and to pay high monthly premiums for health insurance does not seem to make sense for these people, for it seems like throwing away money in some ways. These are the cases where catastrophic insurance coverage comes into play. Catastrophic insurance coverage is for those people who are in overall good health and rarely need to see the doctor for any health concerns. This type of health insurance coverage only covers catastrophic events such as hospital stays or surgery.

This type of insurance is only for those who are truly in optimal health, typically young and single people but not always. This type of insurance coverage is a good idea for healthy people because they are able to lower the monthly premium to a very low rate in exchange for quite a high deductible. By simply keeping a savings account with the deductible amount, or close to it, people who choose this type of insurance coverage can be prepared yet save money at the same time.

The things that catastrophic coverage will not cover are things such as:

regular doctor appointments- these must be paid for out of pocket, but this is not often a high price tag as doctors and insurance companies already have agreements about fees in place,

prescription medications- an overall healthy person will rarely need prescriptions

mental health situations- if health changes, physically or mentally, a different plan might be in order if possible

maternity care- if couples plan to have a baby, a different health care plan is called for in order for those medical care costs for both mother and baby to be covered by health insurance.

Pre-existing conditions will often result in the catastrophic insurance application being denied, for this type of insurance is not suitable for people with risks of needing medical care. Conditions such as:

heart disease
diabetes
hiv/aids
cancer
and asthma

While this list is not exhaustive, it does show that in order to purchase a catastrophic insurance plan, the consumer should have no chronic conditions that need frequent doctor visits, regular medical treatment or prescription medications. Catastrophic health insurance coverage is a low cost way of being prepared for any big health events such as surgery or hospitalization, which are the things catastrophic insurance does cover.