Facts of California Individual Health Insurance

Choosing the appropriate California individual health insurance is important. After all, you want to stay healthy, right? There are three main types of California individual health insurance that you can purchase: HMO, PPO, and fee for service.

An HMO health plan stands for health maintenance organization. The main reason for purchasing one of these plans is that they are devoted to preventative health care. Of course, the downside of an HMO is that you have to choose a primary care physician from your insurance company's list of approved doctors. This doctor will also have to give you a referral before you can see a specialist.

A preferred provider organization, or PPO, is very popular among California residents. Generally speaking, a PPO is a combination between a fee for service plan and an HMO. There is a limited number of doctors that you can see, but with that being said you will still get some benefits if you see an out of network doctor.

The main benefit of a fee for service plan is that you can see any doctor without needing a referral to see a specialist. This type of flexibility comes at a higher cost because you will have to pay a monthly premium as well as a deductible.

In today's day and age, all there of these California individual health insurance plans are changing on a regular basis. They still hold true to their basic form, but are trying to become more flexible in order to suit the needs of a larger number of people.