What Are the Benefits of Private Health Insurance?

About 158 million non-elderly people were insured in 2006 through their employer, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. Employers will often pay all or most of the cost of this coverage. However, particularly in the case of small employers, employees may have to decide whether to buy into an employer's group plan at full-cost or buy their own private coverage.

Selection

• With individual private insurance the person chooses the coverage he or she wants,rather than being forced to pay for separate services that he or she may not use. Individual coverage also allows a person to add coverage that an employer's group plan may not offer. With employer sponsored health care, the employer sets the copays and deductible amounts. On the individual market you choose the amount of coverage you want to pay, which is reflected in the monthly premium. This can be particularly advantageous to young, healthy individuals.

Choice

• Many doctors and other health care providers accept most insurance, though some health care providers may not be part of an insurer's network. When purchasing your own private insurance, you can sometimes choose a plan that covers the doctors and health care facilities you frequent. Private medical insurance also follows you, as long as you the pay the premiums and continue to qualify for the coverage, though private coverage often does not cross state lines. With employer sponsored health insurance you cannot take it with you if you lose your job.

Denial of Coverage

• The group insurance market is more highly regulated and it offers more personal protections and rights than the individual market. In the individual market, insurers can reject people for pre-existing health conditions until 2014. Group insurance policies can only exclude coverage for a preexisting health condition for up to 12 months and coverage cannot be denied.