Supplemental Insurance

What is supplemental health insurance?

Health insurance goes a long way toward paying your medical expenses. Plus, it’s now required by law. However, even if you have a health insurance policy, you can still face out-of-pocket expenses like deductibles, co-pays and treatment. Supplemental health insurance can reduce that burden.

What are the benefits of supplemental health insurance?

Supplemental health insurance is not meant to replace primary health insurance. But, it can help pay some medical expenses once your primary policy has paid. These policies help cover expenses like the following:

• Outpatient services and hospital stays
• Critical illnesses and emergencies
• Private rooms and private duty nurses
• Deductibles and co-pays
• Unexpected childcare

What are the types of disability insurance?
There are two types of disability policies: Short-Term Disability (STD) and Long-Term Disability (LTD):

1. Short-Term Disability policies (STD) have a waiting period of 0 to 14 days with a maximum benefit period of no longer than two years.
    
2. Long-Term Disability policies (LTD) have a waiting period of several weeks to several months with a maximum benefit period ranging from a few years to the rest of your life.

Disability policies have two different protection features that are important to understand.

1. Non-cancelable means the policy cannot be canceled by the insurance company, except for nonpayment of premiums. This gives you the right to renew the policy every year without an increase in the premium or a reduction in benefits.
    
2. Guaranteed renewable gives you the right to renew the policy with the same benefits and not have the policy canceled by the company. However, your insurer has the right to increase your premiums as long as it does so for all other policyholders in the same rating class as you.

In addition to the traditional disability policies, there are several options you should consider when purchasing a policy:

• Additional purchase options
  Your insurance company gives you the right to buy additional insurance at a later time for an additional cost.
   
• Coordination of benefits
  The amount of benefits you receive from your insurance company is dependent on other benefits you receive because of your disability. Your policy specifies a target amount you will receive from all the policies combined, so this policy will make up the difference not paid by other policies.
   
• Cost of living adjustment (COLA)
  The COLA increases your disability benefits over time based on the increased cost of living measured by the Consumer Price Index. You will pay a higher premium if you select the COLA.
   
• Residual or partial disability rider
  This provision allows you to return to work part-time, collect part of your salary and receive a partial disability payment if you are still partially disabled.
   
• Return of premium
  This provision requires the insurance company to refund part of your premium if no claims are made for a specific period of time declared in the policy.
   
• Waiver of premium provision
  This clause means that you do not have to pay premiums on the policy after you’re disabled for 90 days.
  
      What is 'long-term care'?
  Because of old age, mental or physical illness, or injury, some people find themselves in need of help with eating, bathing, dressing, toileting or continence, and/or transferring (e.g., getting out of a chair or out of bed). These six actions are called Activities of Daily Living–sometimes referred to as ADLs. In general, if you can’t do two or more of these activities, or if you have a cognitive impairment, you are said to need “long-term care.”
  
  Long-term care isn’t a very helpful name for this type of situation because, for one thing, it might not last for a long time. Some people who need ADL services might need them only for a few months or less.
  
  Many people think that long-term care is provided exclusively in a nursing home. It can be, but it can also be provided in an adult day care center, an assisted living facility, or at home.
  
  Assistance with ADLs, called “custodial care,” may be provided in the same place as (and therefore is sometimes confused with) “skilled care.” Skilled care means medical, nursing, or rehabilitative services, including help taking medicine, undergoing testing (e.g. blood pressure), or other similar services. This distinction is important because generally Medicare and most private health insurance pays only for skilled care–not custodial care.
     

  Get started today!

  Are your medical expenses too high? A supplemental health insurance policy may be a good addition to your healthcare coverage. Call us, and we can discuss this coverage in more detail to help you determine the best plan that will keep you in good health.