Approximately 17% of all Floridians cannot afford health care insurance of any kind. Fortunately there are ways for you to stay insured or to get health care insurance if you aren’t insured now, even if you have little spare money each month.
Let’s start with your kids. If you have kids 19 years of age or younger who aren’t covered by any health care insurance – even if one or more of them has a pre-existing medical condition – it may be possible for you to get them very cheap state-sponsored health care insurance through a program known as KidCare.
To see if your kids qualify for KidCare health insurance go to: http://www.floridakidcare.org/
If your place of employment does not offer group health care insurance then check around with any organizations that you belong to. A lot of times automobile clubs, fraternal organizations, even churches have some form of group health care insurance that they can offer to members at a tremendous discount over individual health care.
Group heathcare has one other advantage – they often accept preexisting medical conditions that individual heathcare does not .
If you own your own home-based companyand you have been operating for at least six months there’s a special Florida law that may allow you to get group health care insurance even if you have no staff members or if your only employee is your spouse who helps out on even a part-time basis. Check with your insurance agent to see if you qualify.
While you are talking with your insurance agent ask if you qualify for a multi-policy discount on your health care insurance. If you have more than one insurance policy with the same company you may be entitled to a break on your monthly heathcare premiums.
Also, if you have been with the same insurance carrier for at least 5 years ask if you qualify for a long-term policy discount. Most insurance carriers will provide you one if you ask for it.
If you smoke or use any tobacco product – stop. Period. you will never get the cheapest heathcare available if you smoke, use chew or any other tobacco product.
Your weight also plays a role in how much you pay for health care insurance. Losing weight is more difficult than quitting tobacco use for most people, but losing even a little weight can drop you into a reduce weight and cost category and can save you hundreds of dollars each and every year in premium costs .
Don’t participate in dangerous or extreme sports if you want to get cheap health care insurance. Obviously if you go out of your way to put your health in jeopardy you are not going to get the cheapest rate available for your health care insurance.
Consider carefully what the maximum percentage is that you can afford as a co-pay each time you see your doctor. If you can afford a 50% co-pay you will get a good break on your monthly premium. That’s an extremely good idea for people who do not see their medical provider on a regular basis.
Another important question to ask is how large of a deductible can you afford to pay? Your deductible is cash that you have to pull out of your own pocket to pay for your own heathcare each year, so think about this carefully and be honest about how much you can really afford to pay. The more you can pay – the biggeryour deductible – then the less your insurance carrier will charge you each month in health care insurance premiums.
Now take everything you have learned in this article and create a health care insurance policy that’s designed to save you the most money possible. Once you have done that then get online and find at least 3 different websites that let you make side-by-side comparisons of health care insurance programs and their rates from different insurance corporations.
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