Find Great Coverage with Individual Health Insurance Quotes
With the rising costs of health care insurance, you may find it tempting to defer coverage until your income goes up, or you get a little older, or any number of justifications. This is a huge mistake for many reasons. If it’s cost you’re worried about, the gamble often backfires; accidents happen regardless of how careful you are, as others aren’t likely to be so mindful of you. Surgeries cost thousands of dollars, and even a single visit to the doctor’s office during flu season can cost more than a monthly premium. And consider this: Harvard Medical School and Cambridge Health Alliance published a study in the American Journal of Public Health which found that approximately 45,000 American deaths each year are associated to lack of health care. The study also determined that your chances of death are 40% higher if you don’t have health insurance. Clearly, these are significant reasons to search for individual health insurance quotes.
Going It Alone
The main barrier to buying insurance yourself, as opposed to an employer-sponsored plan, is cost. Mainly, employers cover all or a significant portion of the premium. An additional problem is that many employer plans won’t consider your individual medical history. But a search for individual health insurance quotes is likely to include a review of your medical background. Your age is also likely to influence your premium more than it will in a group plan. The key to saving money is two-fold: knowing your options, and comparing quotes.
Types of Plans
When searching for individual health insurance quotes, keep all these broad options in mind:
- Preferred Provider Options (PPOs): Through this type of plan, you can see any doctor or go to any hospital. There will be some doctors who are in your network, and you’ll usually only have a copayment for these. If they are out of network, you may have a higher copay, and possibly additional charges. You don’t need a primary car physician.
- Health Maintenance Organizations (HMOs): You’ll need to select a primary care physician and receive all (or most) of your care from a network provider. You primary care physician will need to refer you if you want or need to see a specialist.
- Indemnity Plan: In this plan, you pay a set amount for a covered event. Depending on the policy, it might cover an accident or a major illness. These are low-cost, but don’t provide very comprehensive coverage.
- Health Savings Account: Just as it sounds, this is a savings account for future medical needs. If you’re part of a high deductible health plan, you can put funds into this account, tax-free, and roll over the amount year to year. Then you can spend it on whatever medical need arises, without regard to a network or deductible.
Choose Wisely
Think carefully about things such as your age, personal medical history, family medical history, and dangers you might face in relation to your lifestyle. Then you’re ready to look into these different options and compare individual health insurance quotes. It’s wise to look at as many quotes as possible, which means that an easy-to-use service that compares for you is extremely helpful. NetQuote.com can handle the search for no cost. You’ll be able to see which companies are going to give you quality coverage and still allow you to save hundreds of dollars each year. With the proper amount of research, you may discover that individual health insurance quotes aren’t so outrageous after all.
