You Wouldn't Hike Without a Compass, Don't Buy Health Insurance Without This Book: Simplifying and Explaining Health Vocabulary

By D.L. Byrd

Deciding on a health insurance plan should be easy!
Most people rely on the advice of others. What we have to remember is, everyones’ needs are different.
Understanding health terms places the power of selecting the right plans into the hands of the insured. D.L. Byrd has spent time helping customers pick plans that work for them, saving them money without compromising coverage.
As the title expresses, you wouldn't take a rigorous hike without a compass, so why not understand health terms before purchasing insurance.

• Language: English
• Publisher: D.L. Byrd
• Release date: Dec 8, 2019
• ISBN: 9780463943922

D.L. Byrd

DL is a licensed Health and Life agent in over 20 US states. DL loves traveling and has seen all 50 US States and has traveled to 10 countries. DL has a passion for helping and educating people to help them have the power of making wise decisions to improve their lives and encouraging those who succeed to play if forward by helping others. As a result, DL ask that you share the information you learn in this book to help others protect themselves and their family by selecting the right plan without over or under covering their most important asset - themselves and their family. The intent of this book is to get you started on understanding health coverage terminology. This book gives the basics and does not cover all terms. Additionally, terminology related to Original Medicare nor Medicare Advantage is not covered (see Medicare.gov or AARP.com for medicare terminology).

Book preview

Why this book? I’m a life and health insurance agent licensed in various states throughout the country. I’ve also worked on concierge service teams helping people figure out their claims, verifying prescriptions covered, determining if pre-authorizations are approved, and explaining how plans work.

I found the best way to educate policyholders was to explain health terminology using a it’s like… method. This method usually opened the eyes of policyholders and gave them power to make better decisions.

Someone once said, Knowledge is Power! So, in an effort to help people understand insurance terms, I’ve put together this book using the same it’s like method to simplify the terms.

I hope through these short chapters the reader will receive knowledge and power to make better healthcare decisions. In the short term, this knowledge can help save money by preventing unnecessary expenses. In this case, the little guy (or future policyholder) can win!

Dedication

This book is dedicated to Nathan, Alicia, and baby Isabella Martin. What your local hospital tried to do is horrible! I’m thrilled we were able to exponentially reduce your hospital bill from four figures to two digits, saving your future tax return.

Your unfortunate (almost disastrous) experience has prompted me to write this book in hopes of helping others! So, enjoy and consider the first copy yours! God bless, and love you!

Introduction – Like the Wizard of Oz

Selecting a healthcare plan is like fearfully visiting the Great and Powerful Oz only to discover Oz is a feeble old man hiding and blowing smoke from behind a curtain. Once the truth has emerged, all fear is wiped away and the feeble old guy becomes a resource to solve the problems of the scarecrow, tin man, and lion.

The purpose of this book is to provide simple definitions to help you shop for healthcare plans. Knowledge truly is powerful!

For example, monthly premiums can be simply defined as monthly costs you pay the insurance company; annual deductibles (in most cases) are annual contributions made before the health insurance company will spend a penny toward claims (or medical bills)!

So, what becomes of your annual contributions? They are used to pay medical bills of others! What? That’s like having an excellent driving record but being forced to pay for a bad driver’s accident. Seems silly and unfair, right? That’s why it’s necessary to understand health insurance terms to make better decisions when purchasing a plan.

Once you’ve been provided with cross references, you’ll be able to select plans that fit the needs of you and your family, saving you money in the process. Before we start pulling back the curtain, let me raise another curtain.

Acknowledgements – Raising the Curtain

First, a huge thank you to my best friend Brenda K. Davis. You are not only like a sister; you are a sister! You have been a total encouragement and a blessing. All the years you spent teaching kindergarten—simplifying reading, writing, and math to 5-year-olds—rubbed off. I now know the power of keeping things simple and building on