Here’s How to Shop For Health Insurance If You Are Diabetic

Health insurance coverage that is suited to your specific needs is important. This is especially true if you suffer from a chronic disease like diabetes. It is estimated by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that the medical costs for diabetics are about 2.3 times more expensive than those who are not diabetic. For this reason, finding a good health insurance plan is essential in order to manage and treat diabetes.

Fortunately, diabetics are able to access preventative health care plans at attractive costs thanks to the Affordable Care Act. Some of these options are Medicare and Medicaid, which help individuals with lower income to have access to consistent treatment and medical support so that they can manage Type II diabetes and also prevent the disease.

Finding Health Insurance When You Are Diabetic

Being diabetic shouldn’t prevent you from finding a suitable health insurance plan in the health care marketplace. An individual cannot be denied health insurance owing to a pre-existing condition such as diabetes. However, being diabetic means you will have to do more research into finding the most suitable health insurance plan for you, including cover and pricing. You can check for this information through an employer, through your domestic partner or spouse’s employer, through Medicaid or Medicare or through private health insurance in the health insurance marketplace.

Obtaining Health Insurance As a Diabetic

Diabetics, as well as pre-diabetics who are looking to purchase health insurance coverage or change their health insurance plans, need to wait for the enrolment period to open, which occurs annually. During this period, changes and signups are made. If your diabetes diagnosis has been made recently, you could take some time to review your existing health insurance plan tp assess whether it covers key supplies for diabetics like meers, test strips, insulin, and other medications or resources you may require to manage the condition.

Tips On Getting The Best Cover

When you are searching for a suitable health insurance coverage and while you are looking at the available options, make sure to enquire bout coverage related to diabetes like supplies, prescription drug coverage, and their limitations, counseling or diabetes preventative care services and also what the co-pay or health insurance deductible figures are. Services and supplies fall under several categories, it is best to compile a checklist to use as you compare the different health insurance plans. You could ask for more information relating to the laboratories, the terminology or definitions in the medical equipment section of your specific policy, or even the in-network and out-of-network coverage.

Prescription Drug Assistance

Over and above using your health insurance plan to assist in covering the prescription drug expenses, several pharmaceuticals actually offer deals on the prescription medication itself. Speak to your pharmacist, discuss discount plans that they have in place or rebate programs for prescriptions. Have a look at other pharmacies and check whether they offer better deals on your specific medication required.

Further Advice

It is also important that if you intend to make regular use of your health insurance that you fully understand your medical bills and how to read them. Learn how to check for errors and make it a habit to go through each bill because mistakes do happen. You can also save more money by coordinating your health insurance benefits with your spouse. This is where the benefits of two health insurance plans are combined in order to reduce out-of-pocket costs. One health insurance plan is designated as the primary insurance plan, and the other then acts as the secondary health insurance plan. This is how diabetics can maximize their health insurance coverage.

The bottom line is that diabetics incur medical costs averaging at about $16,750 every year. About $9600 of this figure is diabetes-related. This means that it is very important that if you are diabetic, you search for the most suitable health insurance plan for your needs. Whether you or someone in your family is diabetic, take the time to evaluate the various health insurance plans and their coverage and make sure you really do get the best coverage possible for your circumstances. Save money and avoid unnecessary debt in the long run!