Insurance is designed with one thing in mind: to protect you against risk. The way health insurance companies do this is by diversifying the risk and having as many healthy people paying premiums as possible. Of course, health insurance cannot possibly cover every medical condition or illness without limits. As a result, in order to protect against being left without coverage when certain medical situations arise, some people choose to purchase health plan riders.

A health insurance rider is a provision that allows for amendments to the standard terms of the policy. In fact, the term “rider” originates from the fact the special provisions themselves are dependent upon having a policy; they are attached to – or “riding” on – the policy, and without it, they would not exist at all. A rider can add features to the health plan, or it can remove certain coverage. Riders come in many shapes and forms, and while some are of benefit to the insured, others actually benefit the insurance company. For example, it is common for health insurance companies to include riders to protect themselves from covering “preexisting conditions.” In order to participate in a health plan, the insured must answer many questions about their medical history. When the history shows that the person has a serious medical condition, the insurance company may include a rider that limits claims that can be filed related to that condition. The limitation typically lasts for about one year, but can vary.

Even though riders for “preexisting conditions” benefit the insurance company more than the consumer, there are many riders that are of benefit to the insured. One such rider is hospital cost coverage. This rider pays a certain amount of money for each day spent in the hospital, above and beyond the payout of the original policy. The benefit is that, at the end of the hospital stay, the insured will have a lower overall bill to pay. A similar rider is in-home patient care coverage, which pays a certain amount for in-home medical care. Again, the result is that the insured saves money in the long-run on the cost of services. Another rider is a waiver of premium which allows the insured to skip premium payments during long hospital stays. And two riders that are of special interest to young families are a maternity rider that covers routine expenses related to childbirth, and newborn care which provides money for the baby’s care from the date of birth until the policy ends.

Choosing the best health plan with the appropriate health plan riders is a move that can save consumers a lot of worry and lots of money, too.