Protecting yourself and your family from major medical expenses is not to be taken likely. Unfortunately, there are people who believe that they have quality health insurance coverage, but later find out that their insurance plan doesn’t provide the coverage they truly need. Below is a list of features that should be avoided to when searching and applying for a health insurance plan.

1. Membership Fees:
   • You should never purchase a “health insurance plan” that requires you to pay a membership fee with the application. This is a clear indicator that the plan is a discount plan.
2. Limited Benefits:
   • Never purchase a product that is labeled as a “limited benefit” plan. This is not a major medical health insurance plan, and likely is inadequate.
3. Caps on particular treatments or care:
   • You want to avoid policies that specify a maximum benefit for surgeries or hospital stays. For example, a $1,000 a day benefit for hospital expenses is worth nothing. According the Anthem Blue Cross of California the average cost of a day in the hospital is $9,989.
4. Boundless out-of-pocket exposure:
   • Avoid polices that do not specifically indicate a maximum out of pocket exposure for a given year. Every major medical plan will specify a particular amount the insured is responsible for before the insurance company will begin to contribute 100% toward medical expenses.

In addition to avoiding the items listed above, there are a couple other ways to determine the quality of a particular health insurance company. AM Best Company provides free online ratings on data regarding a company’s financial data and services. Furthermore, it is always best to speak directly with a licensed insurance agent before applying for a plan on your own. At MyInsuranceExpert.com we have free licensed Advisors to assist you in finding a quality and affordable health insurance plan.