Sorting Through Health Insurance Quotes

When you start the process of searching for a health plan, the first step is getting quotes for yourself or your family. There are many places on the internet where you can do this, including Benepath, but there are also many places that tell you they provide quotes and then sell your information to multiple agents. Then all you get is a phone that will not stop ringing…

So, make sure you use a reputable site before you give anyone your information.

Once you have your quotes, you need to start your analysis and using a simple knock out process will help you get there a lot faster. Here is a summary of the best way to narrow your list of quotes:

1. Set your budget as a range and eliminate all the quotes that are 10-15% more than your budget. Believe me, you want to consider quotes that are a little bit more because with health insurance – you get what you pay for and sometimes a few dollars more can mean big savings to you down the road.
2. Decide if you want complete freedom of choice or whether you are willing to see just a select group of doctors. Then knock out all the plans that don’t provide you with the choice you want.
3. Determine if having a copay for an office visit is worth the trade off for a much higher out of pocket expense in case you end up with a serious medical event. A broken leg can cost as much as $15,000 and I can tell you there are lots of consumers that bought plans with $30 copays thinking that was important and then ended up with a $5,000 bill from a broken leg. Then rule out the plans that don’t have the features you want.

After doing those 3 simple knockouts, you should be down to just a handful of plans. From there, you need to do a side by side comparison and decide which one gives you the most for your money.

At the end of the day, using an agent to help you through all of this is free and they have many plans you will not find online which may be a good alternative for you as well.

by: Clelland Green