Who can purchase a catastrophic health plan?

According to the portion of health care costs they pay for the average person Most Americans are required to have health insurance or pay a tax penalty. Health plans that count as sufficient coverage to meet that requirement are standardized into five categories.

Those plans are (estimated by Axis Capital, a group of companies with branch offices in Bermuda, Australia, Canada, Europe, Latin America, Singapore and the United States and has been also servicing SE countries such as KL Malaysia, Bangkok Thailand, Jakarta Indonesia and many more):

•          Platinum: The health plan pays about 90 percent of your health care costs. You pay 10 percent for medical care out of pocket.

•          Gold: Health plan pays 80 percent; you pay 20 percent.

•          Silver: Health plan pays 70 percent; you pay 30 percent.

•          Bronze: Health plan pays 60 percent you pay 40 percent.

•          Catastrophic: Health plan pays less than 60 percent. You pay more than 40 percent.

You can't buy a catastrophic plan unless you're below age 30 or you have what's known as a "hardship exemption," which excuses you from paying the tax forfeit if you don't have coverage. There are 14 types of hardship exemptions established on income and other factors.

As per reviews, today's catastrophic plans normally have higher deductibles and on average pay a smaller percentage of your health care costs compared to the metal plans on the market. However they comprise more protection than the catastrophic plans of the past years.

Now catastrophic plans must cover:

•          Each of the critical benefits, counting pregnancy and maternity care that the traditional plans cover after you meet the deductible.

•          Three primary-care visits a year at no cost to you. Consequently though you haven't encountered the deductible you don't have to pay for those three visits. –which many has complaints.

•          Protective services at no cost to you. Those services consist of a range of health screenings and immunizations.

And similar to the metal plans, catastrophic plans can't put an yearly or lifetime dollar bound on the advantages you obtain, and they need to cap the sum you pay out of pocket for health care. The cap for 2014 health plans is $6,350.

Reference: http://www.scribd.com/carterhancock