Value Benefits of America
Value Benefits of America or VBA is a non-profit association dedicated to making life better for its members through the offering of benefits and discount services, ranging from the provision of educational information on various subjects to securing discounted insurance plans. Among the latter are the Value Access Guarantee and Value Med Insurance Plan.
Value Access Guarantee
A medical insurance offered only to bona fide members of VBA, Value Access Guarantee provides health indemnity benefits to assist the insured in times of medical emergencies and illnesses. It is underwritten by Companion Life Insurance Company, a company that has been in the business for 35 years. In the course of its operation, it has earned an A. M. Best Company rating of A+ (superior) due to its stability.
VBA members aged 18 to 64 are eligible to enroll in the plan, but coverage ends at 70 years old. Dependent coverage is available, and for this purpose, children aged up to 21 years old are covered, provided they are truly dependent on the parent insured. Children aged up to 23 years may also be deemed covered as a dependent if he or she is enrolled full-time in an accredited school.
Value Access Guarantee pays indemnity benefits without deductibles or co-pays, thus you get the full amount of your declared benefit. It has a wide area of coverage that includes the following:
Hospital Confinement. The insured is indemnified a fixed amount depending on a Schedule of indemnities for each day of confinement in a hospital up to the maximum number of days specified in the aforesaid schedule, provided he or she is under the regular care of a physician.
Intensive Care Unit (ICU) Confinement. Unless specifically excluded in the Schedule, the insured is entitled to receive the ICU benefit amount as indicated in the Schedule. If this is availed, however, the insured is no longer eligible for the Hospital Confinement payment benefits.
Surgical and Anesthesia Indemnity. Surgery and the anesthesia required are indemnified according to a Schedule of Surgical Indemnity Benefits for up to two procedures. If there is a second but different operation, this is still covered but only up to 50% of the benefit. If said second operation is performed through the same incision as the previous, only the larger benefit will be paid.
Outpatient Physician Visit, X-Ray, and Laboratory Indemnity. Fees paid to the physician and to the hospital for X-ray and laboratory tests are also covered in accordance with a Schedule that allows multiple visits or tests.
Emergency Room Visit Indemnity. Injuries or sicknesses that result in a visit to the emergency room but do not require hospitalization are included in the coverage. This extends to the insured and his or her dependent and is paid in accordance with the given Schedule of Benefits.
Preventive Care Indemnity. The plan indemnifies the annual physical examination of the insured along with his or her covered dependents. This is also governed by a Schedule and a list of other requirements.
Ambulance Service Indemnity. Transportation of a patient to or from a hospital by an ground ambulance is covered, and if deemed by physicians to be medically necessary, air ambulance is likewise covered.
In addition to these benefits, Value Access Guarantee enrollees are given access to Beech Street Corporation, a preferred provider organization that has a network of 400,000 and 3,800 hospitals spread all over the United States that are ready to respond to your medical needs.
Value Med Insurance Plan
Like Value Access Guarantee, the Value Med Insurance Plan also provides sickness, accident, hospital, and medical coverage, albeit only to a limited extent. Nonetheless, any coverage in times of medical necessity can still provide additional assistance.
Benefits are paid directly to the insured, unless he or she specifies otherwise. Your entitlement to benefits under this plan is not affected by any other insurance coverage you may have. There are no deductibles and co-pays. The insurance can be issued to persons from 18 to 64 years of age with dependent coverage available for those 19 and below, or, if a full-time student, 21 years old.
The benefits include the following:
Hospital Confinement. When confinement is medically necessary, the plan indemnifies you for each day of hospital confinement up to 365 days. Depending on your chosen premium, this could be $100, $500, $1,000 per day.
Doctor’s Office Visit. The plan will pay you or your doctor $75 per visit for up to 10 times a year. If you have children, they are collectively entitled to five visits.
Outpatient benefit. Out-of-pocket expenses for doctor’s treatment, medical supplies, and X-rays or laboratory tests in a hospital’s outpatient department are indemnified up to $250 per visit but not more than $1,000 for the same illness or injury, or the maximum allowed by the Policy Schedule.
Ambulance Transportation. Ground ambulance medically required to transfer the insured to or from a hospital is payable up to $200 per illness or accident.
The Value Med Insurance Plan is underwritten by the Guarantee Trust Life Insurance and the United National Life Insurance Company of America. Owing to minor differences of the laws governing insurance coverage among the different states, there are variations in the details of the plan. Be sure to check them out before enrolling.
