4 Resources for Helping Clients Understand Insurance

The Care Coordination Grant Program focuses on insured clients, including helping them understand and use their insurance. This is something that may be new to them (and to you as you assist them), here are four resources we've found about helping the newly insured understand insurance, in no particular order.

1. Helping Consumers Understand and Use Health Insurance in 2014

Premium. Deductible. Out-of-pocket limits. Formulary. Has anyone else noticed how many definitions are intertwined in health insurance? To someone who hasn’t ever had insurance or is new to the process, the vocabulary could be extremely intimidating. This discussion paper is a great resource when trying to explain the components of health insurance.

Patel, K. K., M. L. West, L. M. Hernandez, V. Y. Wu, W. F. Wong, and R. M. Parker. 2013.

Helping consumers understand and use health insurance in 2014. Discussion Paper, Institute of Medicine, Washington, DC. http://iom.edu/Global/Perspectives/2013/HelpingConsumersUnderstandandUseHealth

Insurance.aspx

2. Smart Choice Health Insurance - My Smart Choice Health Insurance Workbook

This 26 page workbook nails down the key questions one must ask themselves when purchasing health insurance. Twenty-six pages sounds daunting, however it makes the person stop and consider major life events and goals prior to signing their life away and committing to a health insurance plan.

University of Maryland Extension. (August, 2013). My Smart Choice health insurance workbook.

College Park, MD: University of Maryland.

3. From Coverage to Care - A Roadmap to Better Care and a Healthier You

This resource walks newly insured individuals through everything from understanding their health insurance plan to the steps that need to be taken after a doctor’s appointment. Working in a clinic, it may be easy to forget the anticipation that can be behind making that first appointment and being prepared for the visit. This resource really empowers clients to make choices that are right for their lives.

From Coverage to Care Roadmap. June 2014. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Baltimore, MD.  http://marketplace.cms.gov/c2c

4. Helping Consumers Keep Affordable Health Coverage

Woah. Now I have health insurance. That’s cool, but I also need to keep it. This article does a great job at hitting on points to make sure clients are able to maintain their health coverage.

Stern S. and Leal D. (February 2014). Helping consumers keep affordable health coverage. Retrieved from https://www.enrollamerica.org/helping-consumers-keep-affordable-health-coverage/

Are these resources helpful? Have you used them? Comment below with other resources have you found helpful.