Health insurance is always a touchy subject whether it's politically nowadays (especially during election time) or even with the individual who has to figure out which plan is best for themselves or their family. It's not only tougher and tougher to afford, but just as tough trying to figure out the in's, out's, and FAQ's of every different type of plan available. It can be an instant migraine, and therefore often gets avoided, causing many people the injustice of having to pay much more than they need, or can afford.
Getting low cost health insurance isn't all that simple, and for the most part we're stuck with a very limited amount of choices. However, knowing what those choices are is half the battle and can save you much more on health insurance than you might think, so it may be worth it to stop avoiding the subject and start learning about your alternatives.
In fact, at this time in your life it may be essential...
Health insurance comes in a couple of different forms. Mainly you have employer provided types of group plans (which theoretically is the cheapest that you can have due to the fact of the power in numbers theory). The other types are plans that you would have to purchase on your own if perhaps you are self-employed or not employed at all. Sometimes you may simply not be employed enough, or work for a company that provides no insurance to its employees. In this case it's up to you to cover yourself, and/or your family in case of any unforeseen emergency.
Your best chance at saving the most money on health insurance is through a previously mentioned group plan - and these are mainly provided by your employer. These usually fall into a category of an HMO (Health Maintenance Organization) or a PPO (Preferred Provider Organization). The difference in the two lies in their expense and flexibility of the physician that you choose.
HMO's are the more rigid of the two, leaving you to only choose within the network, where the PPO plan is more flexible and will allow you to choose basically whichever doctor that you prefer, just as long as they accept the insurance company that you use.
Now, in order to save on either one of these, many people will use a health savings account, which in essence is not an insurance company, but is something that you can use with either an HMO or PPO in order to enjoy a larger savings.
Another similar type to a Health Savings Account is a Health Discount Plan which has of lately grown in popularity. These again aren't actually health insurance at all, but rather a plan that let's you save on prescriptions or at physicians offices who have signed a contract to participate in the plan. Basically it's like a savings card, where you pay a nominal monthly or yearly fee, and then get to save as well on each visit to the doctor. These can usually be used either in conjunction with, or separately of your regular insurance plan.
In order to further protect you with the cost of keeping your health up is catastrophic health insurance. This is an insurance that is meant mainly for high emergency situations. In general this type of plan has a low fee to participate, but nearly always carries a very high deductible - usually around the $2,000 dollar mark. Even so, this is small in comparison to what one emergency trip to the hospital can cost you when all is said and done.
For those who are self employed and are left to have to purchase individual insurance, using all of these extra little services such as the Health Savings Account, Health Discount Plan, and/or the Catastrophic Health Insurance plan can end up saving you tons of money in the long run. Of course it's also important that you take advantage of all tax deductions that available to you as well with your insurance, where you can often deduct as much as 40% of all of your medical expenses.
Knowing your options, as well as knowing the rules of these different options can end up saving you a lot of money in the future. Even though your best and least expensive bet is a group plan through an employer - especially if you have a pre-existing condition - doing your homework can get you very good results even when you think that you're in the most dismal of situations.
Bruce Hunter is the CEO of CORE Magazine in Denver Colorado. CORE is the leading online resource for low cost heath insurance.
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