Insurance Basics: Home
Your employer may offer more than one health plan, or you may be shopping for your own individual plan.
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.
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.
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.
To look up the estimated costs for behavioral health services (including mental health and alcohol and/or drug services), go to our home page, fairhealthconsumer.org, and click on Medical and Hospital Costs.