Most of us think of health insurance as complicated and a little mysterious.
The Health Navigators at the Dallas County Health Department frequently hear people puzzling over what their insurance includes or wondering why someone else gets a benefit that they don’t.
Typically when you enroll in a health care plan, you receive a membership packet and a card. While the card is definitely useful at a registration desk for billing purposes, it shows other useful information.
A health insurance card shows your plan type, such as HMO, PPO, HSA or Open. This tells what type of network your plan has and which doctors, specialists and other services your plan covers.
Your card will indicate your copayment amounts for different types of services. What you must pay for a primary-clinic visit will very often be much less than what you’ll be charged for an emergency room visit.
Health insurance cards usually also include the copay amounts for prescriptions. It may even show the price differences between generic and name-brand medications.
Finally, a very important piece of information on your insurance card is the Member Service phone number. Call them with questions about your coverage and for pre-authorizations.
Ann Cochran is the Health Navigation coordinator in the Dallas County Public Health Department.
