Seven Tips to Save on Healthcare Coverage

It is important to have good and adequate health care, but in this economy it is also important to know how to save your pennies when it comes to health care insurance coverage. If you exercise, stay in an average weight range, don’t smoke, don’t drink to excess, take your medications properly, and have regular health check ups all in pursuit of a healthy lifestyle, you will eliminate many health care costs. Some insurance plans are now charging up to $100 extra on the premiums of smokers!

Here are tips to get less expensive health care coverage:

Private health insurance rates are less expensive than group insurance rates, but your employers will offer group insurance. However, because most employers contribute to the premium cost, you will save on the long run. If you are young and healthy, it is possible for you to find an insurance plan with comparable coverage for less money than what you employer pays for your insurance. Some employers will reimburse you for the difference, even the full benefit, in cash. Or, if you have family members who have to be covered, you should shop to compare if what you pay on top of your employer’s contribution for the extra it costs to cover your family is less or more than what you would pay for private insurance coverage of your family.

Employers usually offer their employees two insurance plans, one with broader coverage for higher premiums and one with less coverage for less costly premiums. If you have to pay a percentage of your insurance premium costs, beyond what your employer contributes, you should evaluate the plan you take year-by-year as your circumstances change. Some years you will have children to immunize or to take to the orthodontist, and other years you will have maternity costs, which will dictate the higher insurance costs. But, look at your circumstances every year, and don’t buy more insurance than you need.

Consider what the high premiums offer you. Broader coverage, for instance will usually allow you physician choice, but if the physician(s) you use is in the lower rated insurance’s network, why pay for the broader coverage?

Evaluate whether or not you should have higher deductibles and co-payments. With higher deductibles, you will pay less for your insurance, but more out of pocket. However, your out-of-pocket expenses will only be for times you use coverage, not over the course of your insurance policy, using coverage or not. If you have no maternity expenses or other expenses on the horizon and are fairly healthy, why not pay as you go and less for yearly insurance coverage? You can also open a health savings account, an account which you and your employer can set aside monies for each year. This money can be used for deductible payments and other costs not covered by your health insurance, and you will not pay tax on these dollars. The rub is if you put in more money than you will use in a year, you forfeit the balance—so you have to do some careful pre-estimating.

Ask employers and private insurers if they can offer you a lower rate on health care premiums as incentives for exercising, having a good weight, not smoking, etc.

Check for good rates in group plans like for seniors at AARP.

Get free rate quotes for dental, personal, small business, and student health insurance plans. Two good sites to visit are EHealthInsurance.com and InsureMe.com