Since health insurance rates have increased quite a bit due to healthcare reform, many of our clients have chosen to purchase a higher deductible health insurance policy (which comes with a lower monthly premium) in conjunction with an accidental injury plan and a critical illness plan.

If you have a covered accidental injury and need to visit a doctor or hospital, make sure to give them your health insurance ID card. The first step is for the provider to file a claim against your health insurance policy. If you have a PPO plan, the health carrier will re-price the services as long as you use an “in-network” provider and normally pay their portion of the claim to the provider. At that point, you’ll begin to receive bills from the various service providers who treated you for the claim.

Here’s an example: Let’s say you have a broken leg and go straight to the ER. They will take a few x-rays, confirm the diagnosis and provide treatment. This normally consists of pain meds, a cast, etc.

Once you’re home recovering, the bills will begin to arrive for your portion of the charges that your health insurance policy did not pay for. You’ll normally receive one from the ER, one from the doctor on call who treated you, one from the x-ray technician and one for materials. Don’t pay these bills.

At that point, you would contact the accidental injury carrier and they will file a claim. They’ll just need some basic information such as how the injury occurred and they’ll also want you to send them the bills either by fax or via scan/email. You’ll be charged a $100, per incident, deductible and then they’ll pay all of the bills related to the injury that your health insurance didn’t pay for.

These policies are very cost effective and are well worth the price since they pay the first expenses of any injury up until your health insurance kicks in. In many cases, they actually pay more out of pocket than your health insurance will.

If you are a very active person or have children who are, I highly recommend these plans. For more information on these and our other products, please call us at 866.270.6209 or visit us at www.selectedbenefits.com