How to Discover Affordable Health Insurance ?

Most people might chuckle if they saw these words in the same sentence, one right after the other: affordable health insurance. Not so long ago, monthly mortgage payments used to exceed health insurance premium payments. No longer. 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. Just trying to find affordable health insurance can seem like a trek to find the Holy Grail. If you used to have your health insurance covered by your benefits package and you now have to cover them for your self, whatever your reason, you might be concerned that you can't afford the same level of coverage that you once had. All that being said, if you understand how to look for it and where to look, you can definitely find affordable health insurance. Just don't confuse "affordable" with "cheap". To fit your monthly budget, obviously, on the hunt for affordable health insurance, price is the one of the most important factors in your decision making process. But, the most important question to really ask is this: what is the company's record for payment? Do they pay you quickly and hassle-free or do they take forever and fight you every step of the way? Take any budget and you can find a great car. Take any budget and you can find a great affordable health insurance. Maybe you won't be able to afford a "Mercedes" insurance policy but there is no reason that you can't find a solid "Toyota" policy.

Nowadays, this little tool called "the internet" makes hunting for affordable health insurance much easier than it was ten years ago.

1. Even just ten years ago, to file a claim with your health insurance company, you needed to take an additional step to contact your local agent who would submit your claim for you. Because of the information age, you save 8-12% because your insurance company no longer has to pay agents commissions for filing your claims. Why? Your medical provider, such as your doctor or hospital, usually submits your claims directly to the insurance company so that they get paid faster.

2. All the top health insurance companies are at your fingertips on the internet. On the other hand, most local agents may not offer you a product that is health-wise or financially best for you since they usually only represent a few insurance companies.

3. Because it's really easy now for potential customers to discover what all companies are charging for their policies, health insurance companies try much harder to remain competitive. Got a couple of weeks to find the best insurance deal? Well, that's what it took to get the best deal before the internet came along. Driving all over town. Meeting with a dozen agents. What a pain in the ass! Thank God for the internet!

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. Kind of absentminded? Well, all you have to do is request that your insurance company send you up to "auto-pay" your bill each month. No more lapses in coverage. Not only do most companies give you a discount for setting up "auto-pay" with your credit card but it also gives you another 30 days before you actually need to make a payment.

If you could uncover only one secret to finding affordable health insurance, make it this: the purpose of health insurance is to protect you and your family from a major financial loss. It's purpose is not to save you money on a monthly basis for doctor's visits to have a cut bandaged or for sore throat lozenges. Of course, these small expenses might be annoying but, for the most part, they will not significantly hurt you financially. What will break you financially is the $100,000 heart attack. Protecting your family, your assets and you is, more than anything else, the purpose of health insurance. You should also think, for your purposes, of health insurance (or any type of insurance for that matter) as a gamble. You are gambling that you will draw out more than you pay in. From the customer's POV, this is a good enough way to grasp the situation. But it's not really the way it works. Most people draw an analogy between the insurance company and a casino, so let's use that example. As many people believe, they believe that when they place a bet, they are betting on one team and the casino is betting on the other. This is not true. In fact, they are actually betting against all of the people that placed bets for the other team. The casino simply sets the lines to balance the action on both sides and collect a small fee called "the vig".

Much the same, the insurance company is not betting against you when you purchase insurance. Here's what really happens: using actuality tables, the insurance company determines the average cost per person by taking the average cost of a large group of similar people. They then charge everyone the same price knowing that they will have to pay out more to some and less to others but in the long run, everything will average out. And just like the casino taking their vig for managing the bet, the insurance company charges their fee for managing the group fund. Therefore, you are really betting against other people in your group. Essentially, you are betting that you will need the insurance more than they will need it. This is what the insurance industry calls the "law of large numbers" and is what really makes affordable health insurance possible.

Finally and most importantly, do not confuse "affordable" with "cheap". "Affordable" is a Toyota Camry. "Cheap" is a Yugo. And while there is some truth to "You get what you pay for," when you purchase a $60,000 Lexus instead of a $30,000 Toyota, you are not getting $30,000 more in actual car. In fact, you are probably only getting about $10,000 more car. The same thing happens with health insurance. On the other side, least expensive does not necessarily mean better value. Driving a Yugo, for instance, will get you from point A to point B when it's working, but "when" is the operative word. If your car breaks down a lot, should you rely on it to get you to work? What if you miss a day of work and don't get paid because you can't get to work? Would you want to drive a crappy Yugo to a sales meeting? What about this... would you buy something from someone driving a beat up Yugo? I know I wouldn't! I'm not a snob but I don't want to lose money by being cheap! To find "affordable" but not "cheap" companies, my advice is to only consider companies that the ratings companies such as AM Best (ambest.com) and Standard & Poors (standardandpoors.com) rate as A or higher. Nine times out of ten, the most expensive policy from a lower rated company with not be nearly as good as the least expensive policy from the higher rated company. Sure, you will probably have to pay a little more to go with the better company but it is almost certainly the better deal and the best choice. It would suck to need the money and have nothing but trouble trying to get it from your insurance company let alone getting it quick, wouldn't it?

To conclude, it is much easier than people believe to find affordable health insurance. If you need affordable health insurance, understand that by simply agreeing to higher deductibles, spending time researching online and comparing 8-10 different plans is the simplest method.