Some of the earlier required changes applicable to individual health insurance Texas policies go into effect for new policies on September 23rd. Many businesses, however, will not have open enrollment until January 1, 2011; so many employees will not see new policies until that time. However, if you enroll in a new individual health insurance Texas policy after September 23rd, you will notice the following changes in effect.

Young adult dependents will be permitted to remain covered under their parents’ individual health insurance Texas policy until age 26. They are not required to stay part of their parents’ parents’ individual health insurance Texas policy, but they are allowed to if they cannot access their own health care coverage either through an employer-based group plan, or an individual health insurance Texas policy.

Children can no longer be denied coverage by an insurance provider due to a pre-existing condition when applying for an individual health insurance Texas policy. This provision will apply to adults in 2014. There is a lot of debate as to whether this requirement will result in individual health insurance Texas plan premiums increasingly an exorbitant amount, or whether the influx of paying health insurance plan members will offset this risk to insurance providers.

Insurance carriers who approve an applicant’s individual health insurance Texas policy can not rescind coverage after that person becomes sick. This will be considered illegal after September 23rd. This includes looking for errors on the member’s individual health insurance Texas policy application to deny payment once claims have been filed and submitted.

New individual health insurance Texas policies will be mandated to include certain preventive services, such as mammograms, immunizations, and colonoscopies, without requiring the member to pay a deductible, or coinsurance portion. This is not required of current active individual health insurance Texas policies, but if you change policies, then it will be mandated of the new individual health insurance Texas plan.

Lifetime limits on benefits will not be allowed on new individual health insurance Texas policies, as applied to essential medical care, such as hospital stays or expensive medical treatments. For example, if you have cancer, the insurance carrier cannot impose a limit on how much they will cover of your medically necessary treatment.

Future individual health insurance Texas policies will allow pediatricians and obstetrician/ gynecologists to be considered primary care physician, and therefore patients will not have to seek referrals or prior authorization to see these types of health care providers.

Emergency medical care benefits will also be protected in future individual health insurance Texas plans. For example, insurance carriers cannot require prior authorizations for emergency room services, and they are also prohibited from charging higher coinsurance because emergency room medical services were provided by an out of network provider. This protects members from outrageous charges when an emergency occurs.

A final change that occurs in September is that insurance carriers will have to implement new processes for members to file appeals when a claim has been denied. For example, insurance carriers will have to continue making payments while the appeals process is going on

While one is searching for health insurance, he is provided with a variety of health insurance options. This variety is offered in order to meet the demands of the populace. Depending on the needs and budget one can opt for domestic (or local) health insurance policy or international (or global) health insurance policy. Domestic health insurance policies depend on the local healthcare system of the country. Along with the domestic health insurance plans provided by the country there also exists health insurance policies and plans that provide health coverage all around the world (i.e. globally). Such health insurance policies are also known as international health insurance policies.

� Domestic health insurance policies are limited to covering healthcare expenses only within the country where as international health insurance policies provide coverage for health care expenses globally.

� Domestic health insurance policies are more affordable than the international health insurance polices. However the coverage and benefits are more in the international health insurance policies.

� If one is the owner of a domestic insurance policy then he will not be covered for his medical expenses outside the country.

� There is a difference in the way the insurance companies calculate the premiums for the domestic and international insurance policies. Also domestic health insurance policies as well as international health insurance policies both have and follow different systems for assessing and adjusting their premiums every year.

� The terms and conditions of domestic health insurance plans get affected by national issues where as the terms and conditions of the international health insurance company get affected by the international issues.

� The main difference between the two types of health insurance policy is that if one shifts from one country to other before his policy matures then he does not get the benefits of the existing policy in other country if the policy is domestic one. Thus he will have to purchase new policy in the country he shifts too. Also if he is already suffering from some health problems and is covered under the existing domestic policy then after shifting while buying new policy in the new country this illness is considered to be pre-existing and hence will not be covered under the new policy. How ever if you are the owner of the international health insurance policy then the only formality you need to undertake is change of address and then you can have the benefits of the international health insurance policy that you own in which ever country you shift. This can also be referred to as portability of the insurance plan.

� Both the types of health insurance plans (domestic and international) allow citizens upto 65 years of age to apply for the health insurance policy. Some health insurance policy companies have extended the age limit upto 80 years also. However the point that makes a difference between the two types of health insurance policy is that renewal of domestic health insurance policy is allowed upto certain age limit only but on the other hand the owner of the international health insurance policy can with guarantee keep renewing the policy as long as the policyholder wishes