If you have bought a life insurance or a health policy or even disability insurance, it can be useful in several emergency conditions. Today, as everyone knows, general practitioners of medicine are in short supply Most go in for specialization and almost all of them prefer to work at conventional office timings, that is, at a ten to five pace. There are hardly any doctors available if an emergency strikes on a weekend or at night. And most emergencies happen at these times.
You may suddenly fall sick, or have an accident or something might happen, which needs medical attention immediately. As no doctors are generally available 24x7 and most may not even be available for consultation over the phone, you may be left high and dry. In such situations walk-in retail clinics staffed by nurse practitioners are available and spreading all over the US. In an emergency you can always go to them for consultation and for relief. Under certain circumstances the consultation fees and medical charges for these may be covered by your insurance company and will be reimbursed or paid in part of full. Or they may settle for co-payment for such emergency measures.
You have to make sure if your insurance cover includes such emergency measures. Of course, the company will check whether the emergency is real. A sore throat or cough, however bad, may not come under the category of an emergency. And the insurance will not cover it. These walk-in retail clinics may be housed in drugstores and they charge a fixed fee for their services. Most insurance policies cover these and settle for co-payment. If your emergency is serious you can approach the urgent care centers/clinics. They are staffed by physicians who operate at nights and over the weekends. But even they may not be available round the clock. Insurance companies recognize them and cover the charges made by these urgent care centers.
Classifying some illnesses as emergency can be dicey. The insurance company may not see eye to eye with you on an emergency. If you have a chronic illness and it worsens, you may feel it is an emergency. But the insurance company may not agree and may challenge you. Of course if your situation is very bad and life threatening or you have injuries which can lead to very serious conditions, then there is no problem. The insurance companies will cover such situations. It is the borderline cases which are difficult to pinpoint. The insurance company has to certify that your situation was indeed an emergency, if they have to cover it. Hence it is important to read the document and the policy carefully and see what things are covered by that particular company so that in such cases you know exactly what to expect.
The main thing is that in emergencies there is hope of payment and settlement if you have the right insurance policy and coverage and that it covers such problems.
