Short Term Medical Policies - Interim or gap insurance policies are available to cover from one to 12 months. This coverage is inexpensive and easy to obtain online in most states. The quality of coverage is excellent except that it does not cover pre-existing conditions. These provide coverage in U.S. only.

Individual Medical Policies - Permanent policies that you buy directly from an insurance company offer excellent coverage, strongest financial guarantees, and most stability. These often provide worldwide coverage. But all this comes at a higher price and coverage is issued for a minimum of 12 months.

Travel Coverage / International Policies - Students planning overseas travel should purchase a separate medical insurance plan for time that they are traveling, since most student health plans do not cover charges incurred outside of U.S. These policies are specifically designed to pay for medical expenses and deal with other international complications (language, currency and business issues) typically incurred while obtaining medical treatment overseas.

Terms to Know Deductible or Co-payment - this is portion of bill that you pay before insurance comes into play. These help reduce cost of insurance. HMO - stands for "health maintenance organization". The HMO may pay to keep you healthy, rather than only cover problems hen things go wrong. HMOs tend to be popular among young healthy people, but criticized by people receiving more serious medical care. Private physicians tend to feel that they lose control over quality of a pateint's care when an HMO is involved. Indemnity plan - means that policy reimburses you for any ordinary and necessary medical expenses. This is least restrictive type of coverage but also most expensive. Managed Care - this means that insurer has some authority to influence type of health care you are provided. This cuts healthcare costs but may also limit your treatment. Pre-existing condition - a medical situation that started before your insurance policy that may not be covered by health insurance policy. Premium - cost of policy, usually ranging from $25 to over $200 monthly. Tax-deductible - reduces your taxable income and thereby reduces your total tax due at end of year. Most health insurance is not tax deductible by individuals. Tax-free - benefit provided by health insurance is usually tax-free. This means value of coverage received as well as any cash benefit paid as result of a claim. Underwritten - this means that not everyone will be accepted because acceptance is based on individual medical history. The insurance company reviews each application and selects healthiest applicants for enrollment. Premium rates are lower for those accepted, but these plans offer no solution for people with pre-existing health conditions.

Good pre-employment attitude and personality assessments have built in “lie-scales” to detect when applicants fail to answer questions with candor. Modern drug testing technology can identify when applicants attempt to adulterate samples. Hiring without these steps is equivalent of agreeing to play Russian Roulette without checking all chambers of weapon first.

Copyright 2001 by Mason Duchatschek