Falling ill or being involved in an accident are things that most people want to avoid, although unfortunately it can happen at any time. Being prepared for this in financial terms is a way to reduce the stress involved for the person involved and their family. This generally means having health insurance available and if you do not want the financial burden of medical bills to overwhelm you, it is important to have it available when needed. Health insurance comes in a number of forms, although will generally mean paying monthly premiums. The expense of these will typically depend on the type of health insurance you choose. However there are simple ways to lower health insurance costs and the following are a few of these.
Stay Healthy
As silly as it sounds one of the best ways of reducing health insurance premiums is by keeping yourself in good shape. Those that are overweight, have high blood pressure or are generally in poorer health to begin with will generally end up paying higher premiums. Part of the assessment an insurance company will make when considering you for insurance will be based on your current and previous health and the better condition you are in the less likely you are to use health insurance and consequently the lower your premiums are likely to be. Being in great health, however, does not mean you should avoid purchasing health insurance completely as accidents can happen to anyone. Even if you are in extremely good condition, health insurance is still a requirement, although the fact that you are healthy should help in getting you a better deal.
Shop Around
Health insurance, like any other type of insurance, is not a standard product that will cost the same across the board. Different insurance companies have different assessment methods and this may affect the final premium you pay. It therefore makes sense to shop around a number of insurance companies to find the best deal that suits your needs. There are a variety of insurance comparison sites on the internet these days which will provide you with quotes from a number of companies depending on your circumstances. This can be the best way to start the search for health insurance and shop around such that you can find the most affordable deal.
Increase your Deductible
The deductible on a health insurance policy is the money that the person being insured will pay themselves before the health insurance typically kicks in. While many people will be tempted to set this as low as possible, this is a sure way to increased monthly premiums. While you need to have the money available in case it is required, one of the better ways to reduce monthly premiums is to set the deductible as high as you can afford. Most experts tend to indicate that a deductible of $1,000 or higher will help to reduce insurance payments. Therefore if you can afford this, setting the deductible at this level should mean you have to find less money each month to pay the premiums.
Quit Smoking
If you are one of those that likes to puff away on cigarettes, whether seriously or not, it will typically result in higher premiums on your health insurance as you are more likely to become ill in the long run. While there are a host of good reasons why people should give up smoking, with benefits to health being the obvious one, it can also be a great money saver. This can be in terms of the savings in not buying cigarettes in the first place and after a while it will generally result in a reduction in insurance premiums. If you are a smoker that wants to reduce health insurance costs, quitting is a way to achieve this.
Use a major medical insurance plan.
A major medical insurance plan is one that is designed to deal only with catastrophic incidents such as a major illness or accident that are typically seen as emergencies. However it will not cover more mundane medical requirements such as doctor’s visits or minor medial problems. It usually entails having a high deductible of at least $1,000 or more but as it is designed only to cover major medical expenses, which are typically less likely to occur, the premiums are usually lower. If you can afford to pay for the majority of smaller medical bills and just want emergency cover for large medical costs, then using a major medical insurance plan can be a way to reduce monthly premiums.
Health insurance is an important requirement for everyone as the cost of medical bills if you are not insured can lead to financial disaster and add more difficulties at a stressful time. While it can be expensive paying monthly premiums there are a few options which can help to reduce the monthly outlay and five of these are shown above.
Resources – Insurance.com