Do I Need Supplemental Coverage? The 3 Questions to Ask
Answering this question is not easy, but it’s worth taking the time now, before you need it, to decide if it’s right for you. Assessing your needs and identifying the right blend of supplemental insurance coverage is highly personal—that is, there’s no one-size-fits-all solution. That’s why we’re going to walk you through the process of answering the question, “Do I need it?” with three other questions.
A word to the wise
As with all things financial, it’s really important to do your homework before making a coverage decision. And at Combined Insurance, we want to make sure that you’re informed and educated and feel good about how you choose to protect yourself and your family against the high costs associated with illnesses, accidents and other unforeseen medical events. It’s all about risk management, and we want you to manage it well.
So here are the three questions we promised you
1. What are my coverage gaps?
Another way to ask this is, “Does my major medical insurance plan cover ‘enough’ for me and my family?” Your first step is to understand your existing coverage. This is key, because no plan covers everything. Your primary insurance will only pay a portion of medically related costs, but what about the rest?
Look through your policy paperwork, call your carrier’s customer service or ask your agent to help you understand your benefits. Here are a few sub-questions to consider:
- What does the plan cover outside of the basics?
- Do you anticipate using any medical services (such as treatments or elective procedures) your plan either doesn’t cover or otherwise limits?
- Are you at risk of needing medical services that aren’t covered?
- Are your out-of-pocket responsibilities too steep for certain covered medical expenses?
Going through this process, you may find gaps in your policy that leave you feeling financially vulnerable in the event of an illness, accident, etc. Would obtaining coverage that provides cash that can be used to help cover these gaps give you some additional peace of mind? This brings us to the next question.
2. Am I financially prepared for the “what ifs?”
No one plans on getting into an accident, getting sick or receiving a life-changing medical diagnosis. You also don’t plan on missing work (and possibly losing income) for a period of time to receive medical treatment. And we certainly hope we never have to come up with what could be thousands of dollars’ worth of medical and non-medical expenses related to the unforeseen medical event.
Consider this: the average hospital stay costs over $2,000 per day.1
If something happens and you’re unable to work—and bills start piling up—do you have the savings in place to meet your financial obligations? Even if you do have the savings, is this how you imagined spending them?
If not, then now more than ever is the time you need supplemental insurance coverage. If you suffer a covered loss, you’ll receive a cash payment you can use toward all of your bills. Now there’s some peace of mind.
3. What are my supplemental insurance coverage options?
Combined Insurance offers a range of supplemental insurance products in these coverage categories:
- Critical Illness and Cancer
- Income Replacement
- Life
- Accident and Sickness
Explore our line of supplemental insurance products to learn more.
These are the areas that consumers commonly find gaps in either their underlying major medical plans or healthcare financing plans. They may not have “enough” existing coverage for certain medical events and/or they need the financial protection that supplemental coverage provides, just in case these medical events happen. As we said before, it’s about risk management.
We think it’s wise to work with an agent who can help you assess what you really need, and where you could stand to invest in extra protection. They know the ins-and-outs of Combined Insurance plans, and can help you and your family get the coverage you need.
One last question: Why not find an agent today?
References
1 Ellison, A. (n.d.). Average hospital expenses per inpatient day across 50 states: Below are the adjusted expenses per inpatient day in 2016, organized by hospital ownership type, in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, according to the latest statistics from Kaiser State Health Facts. Retrieved from https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/finance/average-hospital-expenses-per-inpatient-day-across-50-states.htmllink opens in a new window
Supplemental insurance policies are underwritten by Combined Insurance Company of America (Chicago, Il) in all states except New York. In New York, these policies are underwritten by Combined Life Insurance Company of New York (Latham, NY). All policies contain exclusions and limitations, see the policy for details.