Tips for Choosing a Health Care Plan for your Family
During open enrollment, you may evaluating your family’s health care plan. Deciding if you want to keep your current plan or switch providers is an important decision since it determines the health care coverage you and your family will have for the next year.
The health insurance plan you choose should have a network that includes your primary care doctors and hospitals that can provide the best care for your entire family.
For anyone with children, it’s important to choose a plan that gives your child access to specialized pediatric care. Children and teens are different and so are their health care needs. Many children’s illnesses are rarely seen in adults or affect kids differently, so when a child needs medical care, choosing the right doctor, care team and hospital is important.
Importance of a Pediatrician
- A helpful tip to consider is to first choose a hospital that you would want your child to receive care at and then choose a physician affiliated with that hospital.
- Kids are not “little adults.” Different ages can present different illnesses and behavioral problems which pediatricians are trained to recognize, diagnose and treat. A pediatrician is specially trained to care for infants, children and teens.
- Teens need pediatric care too. Their bodies are still young and growing, their brains are still developing, and they are not yet ready for adult care.
- A pediatrician has graduated from medical school and completed a three-year residency program in pediatrics. In addition, a board-certified pediatrician has also passed rigorous exams administered by the American Board of Pediatrics.
- In addition to choosing a pediatrician who is in-network with the family’s insurance plan, parents want to make sure the pediatrician is aligned with good pediatric subspecialists and their local children’s hospital.
Other factors to consider when choosing a pediatrician:
- Bedside manner
- Interaction with office staff
- Office hours and ease of scheduling an appointment
- Method of communication with doctor: many offices offer phone, email and an online patient portal
CHOC partners with pediatricians throughout Orange County and beyond to provide primary care to infants, children and teens. Because our partner pediatricians have a relationship with CHOC, they are connected to all of our pediatric specialists and services. Choose a pediatrician who chooses CHOC, and you can be assured your child will have access to that extra level of care if they need it.
