Ulcerative Colitis - Your Insurance Choices Affect Your Care

Ulcerative colitis is a serious condition wherein ulcers, which are open sores, form on the lining of the rectum and colon causing pain, bleeding and pus. A sufferer might also experience frequent diarrhea. It is quite an unpleasant and painful condition. There are several types of treatments available for sufferers of ulcerative colitis depending on the severity of the person's condition. For instance, medication might be enough for some while others will require hospitalization and surgery. All of this treatment can become expensive and that is why it is important to be aware of your insurance coverage as soon as you receive your diagnosis.

There are several different types of insurance coverage available to everyone. With your ulcerative colitis diagnosis in mind, here are a few important facts about each of the types of insurance available. A Health Management Organization (HMO) if often low cost, but you have less by way of options when choosing your health care provider and treatments. If you need treatment by a specialist and you are insured under a HMO, then you will need to get a referral from your primary care provider in order for there to be coverage.

A Preferred Provider Organization (PPO) allows you to choose your provider within a specified list of providers.

There are also insurance policies whereby you pay for the service ahead of time and then your insurance company reimburses you up to about 80% of the total cost. This might sound reasonable, but keep in mind that some treatments with ulcerative colitis might be in the thousands. If you choose this type of insurance coverage, then you might be paying a lot out of pocket for your various treatments. Many insurance policies are called group health insurance policies because they involve insurance granted to a large group, such as a group of employees. The employer pays a majority of the premium, and the employee pays for a smaller part of the premium as well as the deductible amounts, if any. This is often a low-cost alternative in the world of insurance.

Regardless of whether you have a HMO, PPO and individual plan or a group plan, there are costs and benefits associated with each type of insurance. When you have ulcerative colitis, you want to take into account your condition when you are choosing your health care policy. Be sure to ask questions so you understand what you are getting out of the policy in return for your premiums.