Catastrophic health insurance is medical insurance that is designed to protect individuals and families from major medical expenses due to catastrophic events. This is different from traditional medical insurance provided through most employers or private plans.

Traditional medical insurance, whether it is through an HMO (Health Maintenance Organization) or PPO (Preferred Provider Organization), provides cradle to grave coverage for ongoing health care, including one-time emergencies as well as check ups, family care, pregnancies, etc. Catastrophic health insurance, on the other hand, does not provide coverage for day to day health care, but only for unforeseen emergency medical care.

Benefits of catastrophic health insurance

The benefit of having catastrophic health insurance coverage is that you can have the peace of mind that your family’s financial well-being won’t be jeapardized for decades if someone has a bad car accident or heart attack (depending on the policy and its exclusions, of course). Catastrophic health insurance can be obtained at a significant cost savings over traditional full-coverage policies, making it an attractive alternative in a tightening economy.

The benefits of catastrophic coverage are:

• Lower monthly cost than full-coverage medical insurance
• Peace of mind
• Financial protection against unforeseen emergencies
• Deeper appreciation for the cost and value of routine medical services