Choosing an insurance provider to meet your needs doesn’t have to be a stressful task. The first step is to decide exactly what type of insurance coverage you are looking for. Once you know what you are looking for, it’s time to do a side by side comparison of companies that offer the types of coverage you will be purchasing.
As an example for this article, we will be doing a comparison of two reputable insurance companies that provide coverage for Health and Life Insurance. The companies we will compare are Aetna and American Republic Insurance Company.
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AETNA
Aetna is an A rated company by A.M. Best, and specializes in all types of individual and employer provided Health Insurance. The following is a list of the Health and Life Insurance products offered by Aetna:
- Medical Insurance
- Pharmacy Plans and Services
- Dental Insurance
- Vision Insurance
- Behavioral and Mental Health Insurance
- Disability Insurance
- Health Expense Funds
- Wellness Products and Discounts
- Group Life and Disability Plans
We will now take a closer look at each of the products offered to find out if you need some or all of the coverage.
Medical Insurance
This covers your physician or hospital visits, including any necessary procedures and/or preventive testing done. This type of coverage can be purchased individually or through your employer’s group plan.
Pharmacy Plans & Services
This coverage will allow you to save money on your prescription drugs.
Dental Insurance
Through this plan, you will receive vital savings on preventive care as well as necessary treatments. You will receive discounts on general dentistry, cleanings, root canals, crowns and even orthodontic care and whitening.
Vision Insurance
Through this plan, you will save money on exams, glasses, contacts, LASIK surgery and more.
Behavioral and Mental Health Insurance
This plan may cover such things as Behavioral and Mental Health evaluation and assessment, treatment, case management and disease management.
Disability Insurance
This plan will provide you with a check to assist you with your expenses incurred during lost time from your job after a non work-related accident or illness. Aetna offers both Long Term and Short Term Disability Insurance.
Health Expense Funds
With this plan, you can put tax free money into an account to use for your health care. Your employer may also opt to contribute to this fund. This is your account and stays with you even after you change jobs, and may even draw tax free interest.
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Wellness Products and Discounts
These services provide members with discounts on things such as DVD’s, books, gym memberships, etc. This is not insurance, but a discount plan offered to the customer.
Group Life and Disability Plans
This plan pays a pre-set benefit amount to the chosen beneficiary upon the death of the insured. Aetna’s Term Life Insurance policies and Accidental Death & Personal Loss Insurance policies are only available through your employer’s group plan at this time.
Aetna’s customers include individuals, employer groups, college students, hourly and part time workers, health plans, governmental units, government sponsored plans, labor groups and expatriates. You can view Aetna’s web page at www.aetna.com
Before deciding if Aetna is the right company for you, let’s take a look at another company offering comparable services. American Republic Insurance Company, like Aetna, offers Health and Life Insurance.
American Republic Insurance Company
American Republic Insurance Company has an A- (Excellent) rating by A.M. Best. The following is a list of the products offered through this company:
- Americare Preferred Short-Term Medical Plan
- Americare Preferred Critical Illness PLUS
- Americare Preferred Supplemental Medical Insurance
- CareAssist Short-term Convalescent Care
- ExpressPay Life
Now we will take a closer look at the coverages listed to get a better understanding of exactly what is covered by each.
Americare Preferred Short-Term Medical Plan
This is a supplemental plan, which means it is in addition to your primary medical insurance. It will help to fill in the gaps of the expenses that your medical insurance does not pay. It covers such things as physician visits, hospital stays and prescription drugs.
Americare Preferred Critical Illness PLUS
This is also a supplemental plan in addition to your current major medical policy. It provides a cash benefit when you are first diagnosed or scheduled for surgery for a covered critical illness. It also provides a daily hospital benefit payment.
Americare Preferred Supplemental Medical Insurance
This coverage is a supplemental plan to your major medical policy, and pays cash payments to you for covered services.
CareAssist Short-term Convalescent Care
This plan protects you in the event that you have to be placed into a convelecent home or have nursing care at home. You will receive a cash benefit to be used any way you would like.
ExpressPay Life
This is a whole life insurance policy. Benefits will be paid to the beneficiary upon the death of the insured.
American Republic Insurance Company caters to individual insurance needs as well as employee groups. You can get more information on the services provided by this company at www.americanrepublic.com.
Having looked over the information provided for each company, you can now see which one best suits your insurance needs. Aetna sells their health and medical insurance plans to individuals, as well as employers. Their life insurance policies, however, are only sold through an employer’s group insurance plan and are term life policies.
American Republic Insurance Company also sells their health and medical plans to individuals and employers. However, unlike Aetna, their life insurance policies are also available to individuals rather than only through an employer’s group plan and they are whole life policies. The health and medical policies offered by American Republic Insurance Company are supplemental plans. This means that they only provide additional coverage to pick up expenses not paid by your primary insurance.
So, if you are looking for a primary health and major medical policy, you would probably want to purchase your plan from Aetna rather than American Republic Insurance Company. However, if you already have a good health and medical plan in place, and you only want to purchase supplemental coverage to pick up where your policy leaves off, then you may want to purchase from American Republic Insurance Company.
Whatever your insurance needs are, you will now be able to make an informed decision regarding which company is best for you.
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