Insurance Basics: Home
A new way of getting healthcare is becoming common. Called telehealth or telemedicine, it lets people get healthcare without traveling. Telehealth uses electronic devices such as phones and computers to deliver healthcare services and clinical information across distances.
Thanks to a law passed in the spring of 2020, most Americans can be tested for COVID-19 for free. But that law didn’t make treatment for the virus free. Medical services for COVID-19 can be costly and sometimes run into tens of thousands of dollars. Whether or not you’ve been diagnosed with COVID-19, you can take steps now to understand your protections under the law and manage the costs of your treatment.
Your plan may contract with doctors, dentists and other healthcare practitioners; hospitals; labs; radiology facilities; pharmacies and other types of providers. These are the providers in your “network”.
Suppose you receive care in a hospital that is in your health plan´s provider network. You may still get a bill from providers who treated you at the hospital but are not part of your plan´s network.
If you’re planning a trip, the last thing you may want to think of is healthcare. But accidents and
illnesses can happen on the road as well as at home. Here are the basics on using health insurance while
traveling.
Acupuncture, chiropractic care and massage therapy have one thing in common: They may not be covered by insurance. That’s because they may be looked at as alternative treatments, not part of conventional medical care.