When you’re researching supplemental health insurance options, you may find yourself asking questions like, “Does it cover X?” or “Does it pair well with Medicare?” And if you come upon cost-share plans like Hospital Indemnity insurance, you may just wonder “Is it worth it?”
We’ve gathered answers to the most common Hospital Indemnity questions so you can enter a discussion with your agent feeling well-informed and ready to customize a plan that promotes your financial well-being.
Hospital Indemnity insurance offers flexible supplemental coverage to major medical, Medicare, and Medicare Advantage plans. Since medical plans don’t cover every dollar of your hospital costs (such as deductibles, copays, etc.), you can work with your agent to select Hospital Indemnity plans that will pay out a specified, fixed-amount benefit for each day you’re in a hospital due to a covered sickness or injury.
Most often, Hospital Indemnity insurance allows you as the policyholder to choose a per-day cash benefit amount and a benefit period, which is the maximum amount of days the policy will pay. Generally, it doesn’t have a deductible or limited provider network, and benefits can be spent in whatever way you choose, from medical bills to household expenses during treatment.
Hospital Indemnity is an option that you can add to your overall health insurance portfolio. It pays you a specified amount for each day of covered service you receive, no matter what the final billed charges are.
The base Hospital Indemnity benefit provides a certain dollar amount per day you are in the hospital that is picked by you, the policyholder. This generally ranges from $100 to $600 per day in $25 increments. For most plans, including Wellabe’s Hospital Indemnity plan, you can add optional riders that provide additional benefits for outpatient services as well.
Since the premium is paid with post-tax income, benefits received are not taxable.
Policies differ from company to company, but most have additional benefits within the base policy or have additional coverage through riders that are offered at an additional cost, so you can customize your hospital insurance to be tailored to what you think you may need.
Some of these benefits include ER visits; however, most ER benefits require the insured be admitted to the hospital.
Again, this varies by provider and state of residence, but most Hospital Indemnity insurance plans cover observation billing, ambulance rides, outpatient surgeries (including knee replacement), and therapy. Some policies even cover doctor office visits and urgent care visits.
Yes. Hospital Indemnity can be used without having health insurance, whether it’s group, individual, or Medicare.
It’s important to note however, Hospital Indemnity is not an Affordable Care Act-compliant product, meaning it’s not available on the healthcare.gov marketplace.
Coverage varies by provider, but most plans do cover voluntary mental health treatments in a hospital environment.
Absolutely. In fact, those on Medicare are often ideal candidates for hospital insurance to help fill in Medicare Advantage gaps. People ages 65 to 84 make up about one in three hospital visits, according to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, and the cost for an average stay is nearly $14,000. Medicare plans rarely cover this entire cost. With Medicare Advantage, for example, the maximum out-of-pocket cost is $6,700 — more than most Americans have in an emergency fund.
The main difference between Hospital Indemnity and accident insurance is that Hospital Indemnity benefits are triggered when you seek medical care in the hospital or through outpatient services that are covered under the plan. That medical care could stem from an injury or sickness. Accident benefits are triggered by qualifying accidents. Benefits are usually paid based on a schedule, so depending on the injury, certain benefits are paid.
Photo credit: iStock
Kelly Rayburn, AVP national sales and distribution at Wellabe, and Olga Villaverde, from Lifetime TV’s The Balancing Act, discuss the areas that primary health plans and Medicare may not cover and how you can protect yourself with supplemental plans.
More topics at thebalancingact.com
Wellabe offers life and supplemental health insurance plans to help you prepare for good days and bad. We’ll always be here to empower you to be well — well prepared, well protected, and well loved.
