Strategies for Reducing Health Insurance Costs Stay Fit

Shop Around

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You must be a good risk to get the best premium.  health care carriers will ask about your medical history before offering you an insurance policy.  If you don't meet the insurance company's criteria medically you may have your premium increased or you may not be offered a medical insurance plan at all.

This may or may not be fair.  However, this is the way that insurance works and in order to get the lowest price for the best policy, we must deal with the system that is currently in place.  medical medical insurance companies are concerned about your chances of getting ill in the future.  Your current healthcare status and your health care history greatly impact the probability of your having high or low health care expenses in the future.

Many factors that impact your medical and longevity are outside your control.  But there are many that are within your control.  Do what you can to make sure that you and your family stay healthy. 

Of course there are many other benefits of living a longer healthier life.  So if you smoke, please stop.  If you don't have a regular exercise routine, please consider one. 

Improving your health not only improves your odds of living a longer life, it improves your odds of avoiding a financial catastrophe.  If you develop a medical condition that causes you to lose your job, you lose income.  When you lose your job, you will probably be offered COBRA.  COBRA medical care insurance is usually more expensive than other plans, but this may be the only plan available; medical  insurance carriers may not want to insure you unless they are forced to do so.  This raises your expenses.  After your COBRA eligibility runs out you may be faced with buying a state-mandated policy that will cover your pre-existing condition that you can't afford or going without coverage.  You may be both unemployable and uninsurable at this point.  Any significant medical bill will ruin you.

comparison shop for health insurance

Many people fail to look at many options.  They will often take their COBRA option when they lose their job without looking at other alternatives.  When their COBRA eligibility ends, they may take an individual policy from the same insurer without looking at other companies offerings.  Shopping around for insurance is a key to lowering your costs.

Do The Math

Would you put a dollar on a bet where you could only get a dollar back if you won?  How about betting me a dollar and only having the potential of getting 90 cents back?  You're too smart to make a bet like that, but many people are making bad decisions about their Health insurance because they have never done the math are look askance at higher deductible policies.

A high deductible medical insurance policy may be your best option.  However, you need to compare prices AND benefits to determine if this is the case for you.  When comparing two health care insurance policies that have different deductibles but otherwise the same, determine your annual premium for both policies and compare them with the annual deductible.  Make sure that the higher premium you might pay for the lower deductible policy is justified.

Getting the best policy possible at the most competitive price means being able to look at many options intelligently.  You can't price shop and benefit shop very well if your choices are limited or nonexistent, so do what you can to stay healthy and to keep your family healthy.  You can't Shop Around intelligently unless you compare policies with a calculator and make sure that any extra money you pay for a low deductible policy are justified.