How do you find the best health insurance plan - and at an affordable price? The fact is, buying an individual medical policy is not cheap.
But you can take steps to make sure you get the best deal out there.
Set Your Priorities Your first step should be to decide what kind of insurance you need.
The best policy for you may not be the best policy for someone else.
Maybe you just need a short-term policy to cover you until your employer's policy kicks in.
Maybe you can pay for routine office visits but need major medical coverage in case of serious accidents or illnesses.
Or maybe you have a chronic illness and need a specialized policy for that illness.
You should also consider how much you can afford to pay for deductibles and co-payments.
The higher you set these items, the lower your premiums will be.
Investigate Your Options You also need to consider the various types of insurance policies available to you, especially whether you need a traditional indemnity policy or whether a less-expensive managed care policy such as an HMO or PPO will do.
When you select a managed care policy, you must choose a health care provider from a limited list, but in exchange, you benefit by getting a much cheaper rate.
Other options include high-deductible plans, often coupled with a health savings plan.
Time to Go Shopping To find the best insurance policy available at an affordable price, you should start by going to an insurance comparison website.
Here, you'll get fast quotes from multiple A-rated health insurance companies by completing a simple online form with your insurance information.
On the best websites, you can even talk online or by phone with insurance experts and get answers to your insurance questions (see link below).
This will help you choose the best medical policy for your needs.