Suppose you got your annual physical exam today, August 17, 2010. When will you be able to get your next physical exam? Depends. Partly on whether your insurer states once a year or one year apart.
But it really doesn't matter. Health care providers, to protect their own financial interests, will use the latter. At least in a larger corporate system where the clerks rarely see the medical staff. That means that the earliest you can have your next physical exam is August 18, 2011.
More than likely, by the time you call for an appointment, August 18, 2011 will no longer be available. You probably won't be able to get in for at least three days after that, if not three weeks.
So, instead of paying for physical exams on average every 365 days, health insurers are paying for them on average every 370 day or even more. That works out to a better than one percent savings on annual physical exams.
Can I pay my premiums every 31 days?
