Finding Affordable Health Insurance

Affordable health insurance, is it a myth or a reality? Most people think that there is no such thing as affordable health insurance, and that there is nothing that they can do to lower the cost associated with their monthly premiums (that is if they even have insurance to begin with). Considering that unpaid medical bills are responsible for over half of all personal bankruptcies in the U.S., finding the most inexpensive health insurance for your needs is probably right at the top of your list of things to do. Luckily, there are things that you can do yourself to ensure that you do get the health insurance that you want.

• Shop around. If you are providing your own health insurance, meaning you are not getting it from work, then you should shop around and compare. Just like when you are purchasing automobile insurance, there is nothing that says you cannot get quotes from health insurance providers. Get at least three quotes from different companies before making your final decision.
• Be aware of your personal medical history. Health insurance companies make a lot of their decisions based off of the personal, and family, medical history of the prospective client. You need to know if you have a family history of certain types of diseases, and what your current health level is. This way, you are going to be able to provide as much data to the insurance company when you are trying to get your quotes, so that way you can make as accurate of a decision as possible.
• Know your credit. Just like with automobile insurance, many companies are now basing some of their decision off of not just medical information. Remember that unpaid medical bills are the leading cause of over half of the personal bankruptcies in America. These companies want to get paid, just like everyone else.
• Deductibles. Surprisingly, again just like with auto insurance, the higher deductible (which is money you pay out of pocket before the insurance kicks in) you go with means the lower your monthly premium is going to be. Be careful when using this option though, as you may choose to have such a high deductible to get a low premium that you end up virtually no insurance at all.