Ancillary Versus Supplemental Insurance: Which Policy Is Right for You?

In discussions about health insurance, it is easy to fixate on aspects like eligible providers, deductible amounts and what services are covered. Ancillary and supplemental insurance might seem like second thoughts, but they are an important part of your health care coverage as well. The goal of both types of policies is to reduce your financial burden when traditional health insurance does not cover deductibles, copays or other expenses. Understanding the difference between ancillary and supplemental insurance is an essential part of ensuring that your current health care coverage meets your needs.

What is ancillary insurance?

Ancillary benefits are a secondary form of health insurance coverage designed to offset expenses not typically covered by your main health insurance policy, such as ambulance transport, medical supplies and home health care services. Life insurance and disability insurance fall into this category, as do dental and vision care policy add-ons to your primary medical insurance. Ancillary insurance can be paid for by the employer, the employee or on the individual market. Along with providing coverage for dental and vision services, ancillary policies can assist with major expenses in the event of a serious medical emergency or lengthy hospital stay.

What is supplemental insurance?

Supplemental insurance, on the other hand, is not for additional types of medical expenses but to offset the costs of your primary plan’s deductibles, copays and coinsurance. This form of insurance includes coverage for critical illnesses such as cancer, stroke and organ transplants. Supplemental insurance represents a form of financial protection when faced with catastrophic or debilitating medical events.

How do secondary insurance policies work?

Ancillary and supplemental insurance policies do not replace health care insurance; they simply help to fill in any gaps in coverage. In choosing secondary policies, you can minimize the expense of items not covered under your primary health insurance plan. Medicare supplement insurance, for example, helps pay some of the out-of-pocket expenses like copays and deductibles not covered by the core Medicare Part A and Part B insurance plans. Ancillary dental and vision insurance policies limit out-of-pocket expenses for common services such as cleanings and eye exams.

Identifying which policies are right for you

When you consider buying health insurance, you must first understand the healthcare plans available to you and the benefits you will receive with each. The KindHealth platform, which uses an AI-backed insurance discovery algorithm to evaluate your core medical policy and determine which additional products pair best with it, can make the research process much simpler. .

“We serve more as an insurance advisor than an agent,” said Andrew Tomasik, co-founder and chief operating officer for KindHealth. “We recognize that health insurance is not just a medical decision, but a financial decision as well, and so we evaluate both your medical and budgetary needs to ensure that you see the best insurance options.”

Next steps

Choosing health insurance policies is no easy task. Along with learning more about the benefits of ancillary and supplemental policies, it is important to ask yourself what coverage you need, how much you are willing to spend and what your financial risk tolerance is. An insurance advice platform, like KindHealth, can help you determine secondary coverage options that will pair well with your core insurance policy and your budget.

To learn more, visit https://www.kindhealth.co.

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About KindHealth

KindHealth is an insurance advice platform launched in 2015 and based in Austin, Texas, founded by entrepreneur team Albert Pomales, Andrew Tomasik, Mark Adams and John Constantine. KindHealth’s platform is powered by cutting-edge technology which recommends the best insurance plan for consumers’ needs and budget allowing KindHealth to better understand its customers and offer the right insurance plan. Additionally, KindHealth’s Marketplace Builder™ makes it simple for companies in any category — from leading technology brands to insurtech startups — to offer white-labeled digital insurance solutions to their customers. Visit https://www.kindhealth.co.

Photo credit: “parachute” by o0bsessed is licensed under CC BY 2.0.