How to Buy Health Insurance

‘Health is wealth,’ as they say. However, in today’s day and age, buying health insurance is as important as staying fit. Healthcare services are very expensive. Without health insurance you could find yourself struggling for years to pay off just a few days in the hospital. Here are some ideas for obtaining health insurance.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

1. Determine whether you need an individual policy for yourself or a policy for your whole family. Several associations and organizations offer health insurance for members. Check your affiliations to see if any group you belong to does so. This could save you a lot of money.
   
2. Check if you already have insurance from your employer. Premium payments for this are automatically deducted from your monthly pay checks. Alternatively, you may have a job package which offers free insurance. If you are a student your university will provide you with coverage, requiring you to pay for it along with your tuition fees. But, if you are self-employed you will need to get health insurance on your own.
3. Find out if you can legally obtain coverage trhough your previous employer during the period while you are unemployed. The Consolidated Omnibus Reconciliation Act of 1985, popularly known as COBRA, allows for coverage during periods of unemployment.
4. Go online and visit Web sites of companies that offer health insurance to individuals, such as Aetna, Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield (BCBS) and UniCare. (See below.) Check the maximum health coverage limits. Choose a policy which insures you for at least $1 million as the top limit.
5. Compare policies offered by different companies. There are Web sites that do this. See below.
6. Look up "health insurance" in the Yellow Pages and contact insurance agents in your area specializing in health insurance.
7. Discuss plans with friends, family and colleagues.
8. Choose the best plan for you. The fee-for-service plan, although a common choice, can be expensive as the premium is high and sometimes you have to pay out of your own pocket if the expense exceeds a certain limit.
9. Choose doctors and physicians carefully. You should choose a specialized physician relevant to your medical condition. You will need to do this if you are choosing Preferred Provider Plan (PPO) health insurance.
10. Opting for a point-of-service plan, the other type of plan, leaves the decision to choose a specialist with the doctor whom you contacted first at the time of treatment. HMOs (Health Maintenance Organizations) require you to choose from doctors within their association.

Tips & Warnings

• If you want to lower your premium payments, choose HMOs over PPOs or POSs.
• Be honest and upfront about your medical history. Disclose all your relevant health details to your insurance company or agent. If you give inaccurate or incomplete information, the insurance company might refuse to pay your claims and could terminate your policy.