Not everyone needs supplemental insurance. If you’re a healthy individual whose primary health insurance plan covers all or most health-related bills and who already has disability coverage, you may not benefit from buying supplemental insurance.

On the other hand, if your primary insurance requires you to pay high yearly deductibles, make expensive co-pays, or places low caps on the amount it covers for certain services and products, you should consider supplemental health insurance.

You may want to look into purchasing supplemental insurance if:

• You lack disability coverage, which would pay your bills and lost wages if you were to be injured off the job or became chronically ill.
• You are at a high risk for developing cancer, heart disease or other serious illnesses that would require expensive medical treatment.
• You belong to an HMO or other managed plan that won’t cover out-of-network services or certain procedures, such as experimental treatments.
• You don’t have an emergency fund that would cover at least three months of living costs.
• You want to protect the savings and assets you have.

Most of all, these plans help take the worry away about how you will pay your out-of-pocket medical and other everyday life bills.