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How to Find Affordable Health Insurance
Affordable health insurance - it seems,
especially today, those words just don't belong together
in the same sentence. Health insurance monthly premiums
have become the biggest single expense in our lives
- surpassing even mortgage payments. In fact, if you
have any permanent health problems, such as diabetes,
or have had cancer at one time in your family history,
your monthly cost could easily be more than the house
and car payment combined.
Shopping for affordable health insurance
can certainly be an eye-opener. If you have always had
a health insurance benefit where you work - especially
a state or federal employee - and now have to buy your
own, you may not be able to afford the level of health
insurance coverage you have become used to.
Affordable health insurance, however,
is definitely available -if you know how and where to
look.
When you are looking for affordable
health insurance, you want the lowest cost per year
that will fit your budget, of course. But, even more
importantly, you want a company that has a good record
for paying without fighting with you on every detail.
Just as there is a car for just about any budget, there
is also affordable health insurance. You may not be
able to afford a "Cadillac" policy - but then
you probably don't need all the frills anyway.
Shopping for health insurance on the
internet is the easiest and best way to find affordable
health insurance. Here are five reasons why.
1. You don't need a local agent to help
you submit the claims for health insurance. The medical
provider does it for you. You save money because the
health insurance company saves money by not paying the
agent commission. This could amount to an 8% to 12%
savings to you.
2. All the top health insurance companies are at your
fingertips on the internet. Most local agents can only
quote you from the few companies that they represent.
They may not offer you what is best for you financially
or health-wise but only what they happen to have available.
3. Health insurance companies have to be extremely competitive
because it is so quick and easy to compare them with
their competitors on the internet today. In the past
you would have had to visit physically eight to ten
agents to do a similar comparison. Most folks just didn't
have the time or desire for that.
4. You can change your coverage, deductibles, and payment
options with just a few clicks rather than going through
the paperwork delay with a local agent (and then finding
out he/she made a mistake - more delay).
5. Charging to a credit card means you aren't going
to forget a payment and be without insurance. Also,
it gives you another 30 days before you actually have
to pay. Also, many companies today give an additional
discount for "auto-pay".
The key, however, to finding affordable
health insurance is realizing that the purpose of any
health insurance is to protect you from a major financial
loss - not to protect you from spending small money
on clinic visits and sliver removal. These small expenses
may be cumbersome but they generally will not hurt you.
It's the $100,000 heart operation that will break you.
That's the financial disaster health insurance was originally
designed to prevent.
Also, keep this in mind. Health insurance,
as with any insurance, is a gamble. You are gambling
that you will draw out more than you pay in. Your health
insurance company is gambling they will pay out less.
The odds are in their favor for two reasons. They have
all the facts for millions of families to average out,
so they know the risk in advance. Also, they get to
set the rules and the prices. The higher you set your
deductible, the more risk you take. This is not a bad
thing at all. You will most likely be the winner in
the long run.
Yes, finding affordable health insurance
is much easier than most people think.
Taking more of the risk with higher
deductibles, spending a little time on the internet
comparing eight to ten different companies, and deleting
coverage that you will not likely need (such as maternity
for many folks) will make it very possible to find your
own affordable health insurance.
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