North Carolina Health Insurance

North Carolina health insurance offers you protection and coverage. The trick is to find the right combination of benefits and costs that meet your needs.  You can get a variety of options in your health insurance coverage in NC.  Take a little time to read through the information below on North Carolina health insurance plans and policies before choosing a provider.

Types Of North Carolina Health Insurance Plans

You will have many different options in NC health insurance policies.  The two basic type of coverage are HMO’s and PPO’s.  Understanding the difference between the two is important.  Here are the basics of each type of insurance policy:

HMO (Health Maintenance Organizations) – HMO’s provide you with coverage where you are given a network of doctors from which to choose.  You have to use doctors and medical centers that in the network in order to be covered under your insurance.

PPO (Preferred Provider Organizations) – A PPO also has network doctors and medical centers, but you can opt to not use a network provider.  You will pay less for network care, but your out of network care is still covered under your insurance.

Both types of policies require you to pay a monthly premium and you will have a deductible that you have to meet before your insurance will pay anything. Other options are available as well like Point of Service and Indemnity plans; however the HMO and PPO are most prevalent.

North Carolina Health Insurance Laws

Under North Carolina law you have some guarantees in your insurance coverage.  The law helps to ensure that you are getting good insurance coverage that will meet your needs.  It also helps to regulate the companies and make sure that they are not taking advantage of their customers.

Here are some things guaranteed to you under North Carolina law:

1. The insurance company must provide you with emergency care services within reason.  This means that if you are in need of emergency that it can not be denied to you.  However, you cannot abuse this right.  If you do not need emergency care then you can be denied.

1. The insurance company must cover your stay after childbirth in the hospital.  There is a minimum coverage of 48 hours or 96 hours after a cesarean birth.

1. Each insurance policy must cover mammograms and pap smears for women.

1. Insurance companies must cover bone mass measurements.

1. Diabetes care must be covered under each policy.

1. Mastectomies, related hospital stay and reconstructive surgery are all required to be covered.

1. Chemical dependency care must be covered.

1. Contraceptives are required to be covered.

1. Phase II, III, and IV clinical trials are covered in part under the law and required through insurance coverage.

1. All insurance companies must allow the addition of newborns or adoptive children without mandating a waiting period (and hearing screening for newborns has to be covered under insurance policies).

1. North Carolina COBRA Health Insurance

1. North Carolina HIPAA Health Insurance

These requirements are designed to ensure that an insurance company does not prevent you from getting the coverage you need or that they do not charge unreasonable fees for you to get necessary care.

North Carolina Health Insurance Tips

Getting good NC health insurance coverage is your responsibility.  The bottom line is that the insurance company is going to try to make the most profit. It is your responsibility to ask about discounts and understand what your policy does and does not cover.

You have to learn about the basics of health insurance coverage so you know what you have to have in your policy.  Additionally, you want to understand how your out of pocket expenses affect your monthly premium cost.

Deductibles and co-pays are money you pay and money the insurance company saves.  When you agree to pay more out of pocket the company rewards you with offering lower monthly premiums.  This is something to consider when you are shopping around for health insurance.

The bottom line about medical insurance in NC is that you have to make sure that you are getting a policy that offers you the coverage you need without buying more than you need.  The best value is what you are shopping for.

North Carolina Individual Health Insurance

Usually an individual health insurance plan in North Carolina will be quite a bit cheaper than a group health insurance plan in NC with similar benefits. One thing to be aware of with individual health insurance coverage in NC though is that not all pre-existing conditions are covered. Be sure and compare underwriting criteria from different companies to find the one that is the most favorable to your situation. A good NC independent health insurance agent will be able to give you some guidance.

North Carolina Medical Insurance Companies

Some of the best health insurance companies in North Carolina include:

Aetna

Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina

Celtic

Golden Rule

Humana

United Healthcare

WellPath Select

Be sure and check out your prospective NC health insurance carrier with the North Carolina Department of Insurance before you purchase a policy.

Quotes On North Carolina Health Insurance

You can get a quote on NC medical insurance through our quote tool.  With some other quotes tools you will have to go to each company and request a quote, which can be quite time consuming. 

However, with our quote tool you can get quotes on North Carolina health insurance from a range of companies easily and quickly by entering your information once.

Find NC health insurance now!