Do You Know How Your Health Plan Works?
Part 1-Introduction

How well do you understand how your health plan works? According to a report in the March/April 2001 issue of the journal, "Health Affairs," less than 1/3 of the people surveyed correctly answered four questions about the requirements of their plans. The study, based on interviews with almost 11,000 privately insured people, compared consumers' answers to questions about plan requirements from information that researchers obtained directly from the health plans. The four plan requirements used to quiz consumers were 1) whether the consumer must choose from a provider network; 2) whether the plan pays any of the cost of the out-of-network care; 3) whether the consumer must sign up with a primary care provider; and 4) whether the consumer must get a referral for specialty care. The researchers concluded that the consumers surveyed generally believed that their plan was more restrictive than it actually was.