How Supplemental Health Insurance Could Benefit You

If you have a primary health insurance plan from your employer, when and why would you consider another insurance plan to supplement it?

Many people opt for gap insurance—also known as supplemental health insurance—when the health insurance plan provided by their employer doesn’t quite provide the coverage or financial security desired for true peace of mind. Many employers do a great job of offering health insurance that covers common, routine medical needs. But should one of life’s “what ifs” come to pass, such as a critical injury or an accidental death, a standard health insurance plan can leave employees and their families on the wrong foot.

Types of supplemental health insurance policies include accidental death insurance, critical injury insurance, and hospital indemnity insurance. There’s also MediGap for those with Medicare insurance. You might be surprised to learn that even vision and dental insurance can be considered forms of supplemental insurance.

What are some of the main reasons to consider supplemental health insurance? Note that the risk factors of you and your dependents will be primary influences.

Reason #1: You or your dependents are not covered by primary insurance for critical injury or accidental death. Accidents and injuries could happen to anyone, at any time. What would you do if you were seriously injured in an auto accident and couldn’t work for an extended period of time? Supplemental insurance can help cover lost wages while you’re out of work.

Reason #2: You don’t have enough money on hand to cover out-of-pocket expenses. Supplemental insurance can help cover the cost of co-pays required under your primary insurance health plan. Consider unplanned events like visits to the emergency room, the cost of an ambulance, or an overnight hospital stay. Do you have enough money on hand or in a savings account to cover these costs when your insurance will not?

Reason #3: Based on genetic history, lifestyle, or other factors, there’s a heightened likelihood that you or your dependents could develop a serious illness. Even beyond family history of serious illness like cancer or heart disease, supplemental coverage can be a good idea for the medical, dental, or vision procedures you’re planning for a future date. For example, maybe you know your children will need orthodontic in the next few years, or that your husband plans to get LASIK eye surgery before retirement.

Reason #4: The cost of a supplemental insurance plan will benefit you in the long term. This one might seem like a no-brainer, but you should work through how much supplemental insurance will cost you over the course of a year and determine if it’s an expense that will be worth it over time. While you can’t predict the extent to which you’ll need to use supplemental insurance, you can get a general sense of whether—based on your needs and risk factors—it’s a worthwhile investment.

Learn more about supplemental health insurance and the type of coverage that makes the most sense for you and your family! Feel free to get in touch with our insurance experts anytime. Schechner Lifson Corporation understands the needs of our clients and will always work in their favor.