California Family Health Insurance
What Is Family Health Insurance?
Insurance companies use the term “family health insurance” in two ways.
Generally, family health insurance means any insurance, individual or group, that is for the subscriber and his or her spouse and any dependent children (children under 19 or full-time college students).
Specifically, family health insurance refers to an individual insurance plan that covers medical payments for the subscriber as well as his or her spouse and/or dependent children. For individual family health insurance, you will pay the cost for the insurance as well as out-of-pocket expenses not covered by the plan. The requirements related to individual health insurance plans apply to private family health insurance plans.
Getting an Individual Family Health Insurance Policy
Just as for an individual health insurance policy, you must apply and be approved for a family policy. You, your spouse, and your family may be required to have physical examinations, complete health history questionnaires, and so on.
When You’re Married
If you are married without children, and you and your spouse each have an individual insurance policy, you would want to see if a family health insurance policy would be a better deal for the two of you. Get some quotes to check this out.
When You Have Children
When you have children, you may want to get family health insurance so that health-care expenses for your children are covered under your policy. Your policy will cover your children until they are 18 or 19, and longer if they are full-time students at a qualifying school. A California law requires certain companies to continue coverage for students on medical leave from school or with certain disabling conditions.
Since policies vary, it’s a good idea to get quotes to see if you can save money by having one individual policy (for your spouse, for example) and one family policy (for you and your child).
If one family member has a serious health problem, you may save money by having a family policy that excludes that member, and an individual policy tailored for the special needs of that family member.
The way to find out what is best for you is to get some quotes.
What Is the Cost of Family Health Insurance?
As you would expect, family health insurance is more costly than individual health insurance because more people are being paid for by the policy.
How Can You Get Help Buying Private Family Insurance in California?
If your family meets certain requirements, you can get low-cost coverage for children under the age of 19 through California SCHIP (Children’s Health Insurance Program).
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