Resources

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Links to Web sites and organizations with helpful information and resources about health insurance benefits, including prescription drug coverage:

• AvoidFraud.org
• HealthChoices
• HealthDecisions.org
• The Health Assistance Partnership
• Links to Health Insurance Companies

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Tools:

• Consumer Information on Health Plans from the U.S. Department of Labor - The Department of Labor's Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) provides consumer information on health plans to provide health plan participants and their beneficiaries with information on their rights under the federal health benefits law with respect to their job-based plans. The information ranges from general information on the law to numerous specific issues.
• GovBenefits.gov - A partnership of Federal agencies established to provide improved, personalized access to government assistance programs. The partnership's mission is to connect citizens to government benefit program eligibility information and increase access to information, particularly for people with disabilities.
• Your Medicine: Play It Safe - This resource from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality and the National Council on Patient Information and Education answers common questions about getting and taking medicines and has many handy forms that will help you keep track of information.

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Publications:

• Checkup on Health Insurance Choices - This publication from the Department of Health and Human Services' Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality explains the basics of health insurance - what it is, why you need it, and where to get it. It also walks readers through some key considerations in selecting a health insurance plan to meet their needs.
• Choosing and Using a Health Plan - This resource from the Department of Health and Human Services' Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality can help you make sense of your choices for getting health care insurance. Even if you don't get to choose the health plan yourself (for example, your employer may select the plan for your company), you still need to understand what kind of protection your health plan provides and what you will need to do to get the health care that you and your family need. The more you learn, the more easily you'll be able to decide what fits your personal needs and budget.
• Guide to Health Insurance - This publication from America's Health Insurance Plans discusses the basic forms of health coverage and includes a checklist to help you compare plans. It answers some commonly asked questions and also includes descriptions of other forms of health insurance, including hospital-surgical policies, specified disease policies, catastrophic coverage, hospital indemnity insurance, and disability, long-term care, and Medicare supplement insurance.
• Guide to Managed Care - Managed care is a way of both providing and paying for health care. This publication from American's Health Insurance Plans explains the difference between various types of managed care plans, like health maintenance organizations (HMOs), preferred provider organizations (PPOs), and point-of-service (POS) plans, and helps you understand what the differences mean to you.
• Where To Go When You Have Questions About Your Benefits [PDF] - This fact sheet from the National Pharmaceutical Council offers a list of resources for more information about benefit questions for those with employer-sponsored coverage, as well as for those with Medicare coverage, Medicaid, or those who are currently uninsured.
• Your Guide to Choosing Quality Health Care - The goal of this guide from the Department of Health and Human Services' Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality is to help you find and use available information to choose quality health care. It can also help you measure quality for yourself according to what is most important to you.
• Your Pharmacy Benefit: Make It Work For You! [PDF] - This publication from the National Pharmaceutical Council, in cooperation with the Federal Citizen Information Center, walks readers through the important things to consider about pharmacy benefits when choosing a health plan and how to effectively use those benefits to play for the medicines you need to stay healthy.

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