Affordable Individual Health Insurance - How To Control Your Own
Insurance Costs
The need for affordable individual health insurance is becoming
more prevalent because of the rising numbers of self-employed.
Entrepreneurs are changing the landscape. Home-based businesses
are growing at a phenomenal pace. The enormous growth of small
business has generated a greater demand for individual health
insurance. This is a first time experience for many of these new
start-ups. Group health insurance is provided by the employer.
The employee that is enrolled in the company group health
insurance plan rarely examines the coverage or the cost. This
changes dramatically when they are forced into purchasing their
own individual plan.
COBRA (the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of
1985) guarantees a continuance of coverage when you leave your
employer. This coverage is made available for 18 months after
you leave. You have a 60-day window after termination of
employment to shop for your own individual health plan. This
window of time is critical to the insurance shopping process. If
you have any thought of leaving your employer then it is
imperative that you investigate the availability of individual
health insurance.
Individual health insurance is medically underwritten. That
means that the insurance company will gather all applicable
medical information on you and or your family to determine if
they can offer you an individual plan. Pre-existing conditions
are often eliminated and in some instances coverage can be
denied.
Things to consider:
1. Health - Do not presume that you or any of your family is
Insurable. There may be certain pre-existing conditions that are
covered by some companies and excluded by others.
2. Self-Insuring - The higher deductible that you elect will
decrease your premium dramatically. This is called
self-insuring. Some companies have deductibles that go as high
as thousands.
3. Insurance Company - There are many reliable insurance
companies in the health insurance industry use their quotes to
compare coverage.
We have done the research so you don't have to. Please see our
recommended source for insurance quotes online.