Download or read book Decoding Your Health Insurance written by and published by . This book was released on 2012 with total page 17 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Consumers need clear information about the benefits provided by their health insurance plans--what' covered, what isn't covered, and what costs they're responsible for. Yet research has found that consumers have significant difficulty understanding health insurance plans. This has a direct impact on consumers' health: Without a clear understanding of what their insurance covers, consumers are more likely to delay or forgo care, to make uninformed choices about treatment, and to end up with large and unexpected bills. That will change beginning on September 23, 2012, when the Affordable Care Act will, for the first time, give consumers the right to concise, comparable, plain-language descriptions of the benefits and costs under private health insurance plans. This information will be provided in the new Summary of Benefits and Coverage. The Summary of Benefits and Coverage will help the nearly 173.5 million people (65.1 percent of non-elderly Americans) who have private health insurance. It will help them decode the terms and conditions of their coverage and make informed health care decisions, regardless of whether they get their health insurance through a job or purchase coverage in the individual insurance market.