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Managed Care Organizations

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Submitted By mvitale07
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Health insurance is a contract between a people or group that says the health insurance company will pay a portion of the medical expenses when the individual accesses the healthcare system for the illness, injuries or routine care. The amount the insurance company pays depends on the coverage and varies greatly between companies and policies.
A few of the top managed care organizations are Aetna, Humana and United Health Group. These insurance companies offer health insurance, dental, vision, pharmaceutical, Medicare, Medicaid and some even offer disability, life insurance, and pet insurance. All of these companies offer similar plans and services but vary greatly in price. Price per plan can vary depending on the health of the individual on the plan and how many people are on the plan. Employers typically purchase Group Insurance because they can receive a more discounted rate than individual rate insurance plans.
Monthly insurance costs are hard to determine. With just a basic quote for a healthy individual between 21 and 30 there is still a huge variation. Aetna is not available in my area, but they are contracted with CoventryOne. CoventryOne has basic plans that vary anywhere from $42.82 a month to $338.87. Humana doesn’t have such a vast price difference and varies between $219.70 -$258.53 per month. United Health Group ranges from $250.65 -$452.34. These prices are all for very similar plans, which makes it hard to choose which one to go with. There are very subtle differences in coverage that don’t look like much on paper but once you need to use the coverage, you realize how extensive the difference really can be.
As a patient, I feel I would choose Aetna or CoventryOne. Their monthly fees for the amount of coverage I would receive are extremely lower than the other companies. This company is the only company that based my quote off of my income which could be a reason this quote was significantly lower. It is important for me to pay less monthly premiums because I rarely use a doctor. Paying $400 a month and not needing to see a doctor for 6 months, it would be cheaper to just pay the doctor outright a few hundred dollars than $2400 in monthly premiums.
As an employer it is hard to tell which company to choose. Every company has something to offer everyone, but not one company is the best for all the employees. Before I could make the decision, there would need to be a budget set in place on how much the employer will be contributing. I would then begin to price and compare plans for the number of employees I have. Without knowing the exacts, I feel the best bet would be to go with Humana’s Simplicity Plan. Many employees do not know much about insurance and how it all works. With Simplicity, they are given the coverage in an easy to understand format for a decent price. No need to understand deductibles or co-insurance. References
HowStuffWorks "Health Insurance Defined" (n.d.). Retrieved August 14, 2014, from http://health.howstuffworks.com/health-insurance/health-insurance1.htm

Humana Simplicity Affordable, easy, effective coverage. (n.d.). Retrieved August 14, 2014, from https://www.humana.com/agent/products-and-services/group-insurance/small-business-insurance/medical/simplicity

Comparing the Four Majors: Assurant, Aetna, UHONE Golden Rule and Humana. (n.d.). Retrieved August 14, 2014, from http://www.naaip.org/aetna-uhc-goldenrule-humana-assurant-comparison/

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