Health Insurance 101

Health insurance may seem like a complicated topic, but don't worry; we're here to make it simple and easy. We've created this blog post to provide you with the basics of health insurance so you can understand what goes into choosing an insurance rate and what you’d be paying for.

After reading our informative blog post, you should have a good understanding of what health insurance is and how much it will cost in your area.

What is Health Insurance?

Health insurance is protection from medical expenses. It is a contract between the insurer and insured, which states that the insurer will help cover the costs of medical bills in event of a health problem or accident.

What Does Health Insurance Cover?

Health insurance can cover a variety of different medical services. The exact coverage will vary, but generally, health insurance covers doctor visits, prescriptions, hospital stays and more. Most plans also include mental health care and even some alternative medicine treatments (which are often excluded). If you have a specific injury or illness you’re worried about in particular, check out your plan to see what it covers.

What Health Insurance Doesn’t Cover

Just because health insurance covers some medical expenses, doesn’t mean it's the most cost-efficient option. The costs you pay can be significant, and there may be higher deductibles (a minimum amount that you must pay out of pocket before coverage begins) to boot. Plus, if you have a preexisting condition (such as a pre-existing injury or illness), your premiums could go up significantly, which could put your financial situation in dire straits. That’s why having health insurance is important – not only to protect you from serious illness and accidents, but also from financial collapse.

Check out our articles on high deductible health insurance and health savings accounts if you're interested in more cost-efficient options to meet your financial needs.

As you can probably tell, there are a ton of different health insurance plans to choose from. What should you do? Find affordable health insurance quotes and compare them side by side.

How Do I Get Affordable Health Insurance Quotes?

If you’d like to get some affordable health insurance quotes, it’s best to start your search online. There are plenty of comparison sites out there where you can compare rates from the major insurers in your area. Just make sure that the site is owned by an independent company and not one of the insurance providers as this will give you unbiased information about how much coverage will cost.

One free and easy way to get an online quote is to head over to the InsuranceQuotes.com homepage and enter in your zip code. This will reveal a list of insurance companies offering coverage in your area. Just choose one of the companies, and you’ll be able to quickly compare rates for a variety of plans and policy types, including health insurance, life insurance, home/renters insurance, auto insurance and more. There’s no obligation to buy right away (or ever), if you just want some numbers it will give it to you, but after entering in your information, you’ll have an idea of what your ballpark price might be.

What Are Some Affordable Health Insurance Plans?

As we’ve already mentioned, there are lots of different health insurance plans to choose from. In our research, we’ve found that the majority of people find the following health insurance options to be some of the most cost-friendly. These plans are affordable and comprehensive. If you want a good starting point, these might be an option for you:

High Deductible Health Insurance – While this plan does not cover lots of medical expenses, it does include low premiums and deductibles (which means you may pay more out-of-pocket when seeking care). You’ll also generally have access to more discounts on health care services, and you’ll find that your out-of-pocket costs are significantly lower than with other plans.

Health Savings Accounts (HSA) – HSAs allow you to pay for healthcare expenses with pretax dollars. Additionally, when you use your HSA dollars, the money is tax deductible as well. These are some of the most cost-efficient plans on the market but still cover a wide variety of medical expenses and preventative care.

Conclusion

Health insurance is an important part of protecting yourself against sudden costs and serious illnesses that can put a huge strain on your budget. Once you know what health insurance is and how it works, you’ll be able to make informed decisions on the best coverage for your needs.

Huge thanks to all who have helped us create this post. If you have any technical problems, or help with one of the links, please let us know in the comments section below.

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- Health Insurance 101 Team // @HealthIns101 // #healthinsurance101 // www.healthinsurance101.org

Photo Credits: Flickr: Paul Townsend, Flickr: Jorge Láscar Fernández, Flickr: Marcelo Vieira da Cunha

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Author: Health Insurance 101 Team Google+ Profile - Find us on Google+ . Featured Photo Credit: Georgetown University in Washington D.C., USA, licensed under CC by 2.0 , Wikimedia Commons Please be aware that we do not own the rights to the photo(s) and you are responsible for ensuring you have the rights to re-publish any article written here (ie from our website).

Conclusion

Health insurance is an important part of protecting yourself against sudden costs and serious illnesses that can put a huge strain on your budget. Once you know what health insurance is and how it works, you’ll be able to make informed decisions on the best coverage for your needs.

Huge thanks to all who have helped us create this post. If you have any technical problems, or help with one of the links, please let us know in the comments section below.

If you like this post, please share with your friends and join our newsletter! Follow us on Facebook!

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