(Akiit.com) Finding health insurance that fits within your budget isn’t always easy, but it also might not be as difficult as you think. There are alternatives, and ways to make sure you are getting the best deal for you and your family.
Look At The Alternatives
Before you start laying out any money you should see if you qualify for Medicare. This does depend on which state you live in and your level of income, but if you qualify it could save you the cost of healthcare insurance altogether.
You can find out if you qualify by visiting Healthcare.gov. This site will also tell you about the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) and about any subsidies you could claim toward your healthcare insurance.
Where children are concerned you should also check out any existing healthcare policies such as the one you or your spouse have with a job. They sometimes cover your offspring as well as you, and that could save the cost of taking out a policy for them.
Look At Comparison Sites
Look at comparison sites to find out the cheapest premiums. You have to remember though that the cheapest is not always the best. If you think in terms of bronze, silver, gold and platinum policies, you will, of course, find that the bronze would be the cheapest. However, you would also possibly find that it only pays 60% of your medical costs, where the platinum will pay perhaps 90%.
You need to look at what treatment has been needed over the last year and add that to the premiums to see which would have worked out the best deal. If you were to need neurosurgery, for example, how much would that cost you? You can find out all the latest treatments and prices at the Timothy Steel Neurosurgery Journal, but would your health insurance cover the expenses? Would you be able to get the best treatment from such a doctor or would you have to go elsewhere?
You also need to see what federal subsidies you are entitled to, as it could be that you are better off going for the more expensive platinum plan with a subsidy to help you.
Can You Stay With Your Doctor?
Has the same doctor treated you and your family for many years? If so you obviously trust them to still be using their services, but some policies restrict who you can and cannot use. If you want to stay with your favorite doctor you may have to pay a little more for the privilege, but you may well feel it is worth it because of the family history with them.
It can be a bit unsettling to have to start using a different medical professional, and if they tell you different things to what you have been told in the past, you might find it hard to have any faith in their judgment.
Creating an account on the Healthcare.gov website is simple. You just need to give them your name and an email address. They will verify the email with you and then open your account where you can fill in all the details and they will let you know if you qualify for any help at all. It is this together with the comparison sites that you need to look at, and to consider all the options available.
Health insurance is so important, so do what you can to ensure you are covered as best you can be.
Staff Writer; Paul Jacobs