Health insurance is a necessity as many health care costs are completely unaffordable. A heart transplant could cost over $1 million. Furthermore, beyond the expected payout, managed care policies such as PPOs and HMOs also offer lower contracted rates with health-care providers. Thus even a multi-millionaire could benefit by having health insurance since it is really a combination of insurance and discounted rates.
As a rule of thumb, a healthy family should pick a higher deductible plan since they can expect high savings with the partial self-insurance. The most difficult decision lies in making a decision for long term care insurance. Long term care expenses are definitely high, and the premiums are not certain. When this was a new product, the majority of insurance companies under priced policies for a variety of reasons, with the result that premiums are now increasing dramatically. To make matters worse, some companies are exiting the business altogether. While coverage is a tough decision, a typical recommendation is either full or partial self-insurance, with partial self-insurance involving a lower daily benefit and a longer waiting period before the benefit begins meaning you may pay out of pocket for the first 90 days.
