Insurance Basics: Home
By law, consumers living in New York State have certain protections when shopping for and using their health insurance. Your insurer must provide up-to-date information about who is in your network.
Healthcare proxies and advance healthcare directives can help you plan your care if you ever lose the ability to communicate clearly.
Employers offer health coverage to their workers in several ways. Some buy an “off the shelf” plan from a commercial insurance company.
Since providers are able to decide how much to charge for out-of-network care, sometimes that charge might be higher than you expected.
Most health plans have a “network”, a group of doctors, hospitals and other healthcare providers who agree to take your insurer´s rate.
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.