Insurance Basics: Home
Preventive services, such as vaccines and screenings, can help you avoid certain diseases and catch others in their early stages, to limit the harm they can cause.
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) of 2010 makes it easier for many Americans to get health insurance. It also expands the services that health plans need to cover.
Your health insurance ID card is your proof of insurance. You use it when you visit the doctor, hospital or other provider.
Health plans negotiate the price of medical services with certain doctors, hospitals, labs and other providers.
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”.
Sometimes you know ahead of time that a major event will happen in your life. Examples might include getting married or divorced, changing jobs or having a baby. Other times, such as at a death, you may not have advance warning.