This is good news for many Americans who often cannot afford to purchase health insurance for themselves or whose employers do not offer insurance. This includes individuals who are self-employed; those who are employed by a small business or who run a small business; and individuals in other circumstances that require them to buy their own health insurance.

“More than 45 million Americans fall into one of these categories. Many of these people are uninsured or are struggling to afford the traditional plans that insurance companies typically offer,” says Melissa Crawford, senior vice president, Physicians Mutual.

The company bundles together existing and new products to provide an Integrated Health Portfolio (IHP) with a variety of choices and price points.

The IHP offers a choice of benefits, including coverage for:

• Doctor’s office visits

• Preventive care

• Hospital stays

• Surgeries

• Catastrophic major medical

• Outpatient treatment.

“This portfolio of products is designed for middle-income Americans for whom the only choice has been major medical plans with high deductibles-$5,000, for example. That’s too much for them to absorb out of pocket,” Crawford says. “They’re looking for a plan that pays a portion of everyday health care costs such as doctor’s visits, childhood immunizations, and screenings like mammograms and prostate cancer tests. They also need prescription drug and vision discounts.

“We have options with no deductible to meet, so policyowners receive benefits the first time they have a covered medical expense,” Crawford says. “There are also no lifetime maximums on this type of policy.”

Crawford points out that individuals and small-business owners usually do not have benefits managers who can talk them through their insurance options. The health portfolio offers a needs assessment to help customers determine which insurance products are right for them.

Physicians Mutual Insurance Company and Physicians Life Insurance Company, a member of the Physicians Mutual family, provide a full portfolio of health and life insurance products, as well as financial products. Both companies consistently receive high grades from independent insurance analysts.

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You have to have an understanding of your own health. The biggest factor in determining the insurance cost is your health.

Here is some advice from insiders to get the best health ranking possible at lowest possible rates:

1. Tell the truth

Hiding some facts on your health will not help you. First, the insuring company will eventually find out because they do have your records. They will presume that the problem is serious, since you did not mention it. Worse, withholding info the company regards as important could lead to the cancellation of your policy.

Give the insurance company your complete health history. But do it under your own terms. For example, dont just say that you have high blood pressure. Inform them that you have been diagnosed with high blood pressure several years ago and have kept control of it.

Give them complete information and reduce the uncertainty, then eventually you would get a good deal.

Be careful on how you say things, a hesitant answer would seem that you are hiding something. Be as clear as possible with your replies.

Ask what the ranking is based on. There would generally be criteria in determining the health ranking and it varies from one company to another. Determine your ranking in a specific company and why. This helps you get a better picture and hopefully and decrease your premium. Canvass for the best rates possible but know that the rate is just one consideration.

2. Your doctor can help.

Inform your physician. Insurance companies would want to talk with your physician and look at your records. If not that, they would at least look at your records at the Medical Insurance Bureau.

Your best move is to inform your physician that youre applying for insurance. A forewarning helps in ensuring that the insurance company gets noticed and gives you in return a favorable rating.

Ensure that the company gets a complete record, especially if you have moved from one doctor to another. The insurance company wants all of your health records to get a complete idea of your state of health.

Inquire discretely. Too much inquiry might raise a red flag on you. Try to get an agent to do the shopping for you. Choose your insurance broker carefully. Just like other professionals, theyre not created equal.

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More than 1 million Americans have made a similar choice, signing up for high-deductible health insurance policies and associated HSAs since the program was introduced in late 2003 according to the Washington-based industry group, America’s Health Insurance Plans.

The new plans are a bit complex, but a growing number of insurers offer them.

Under federal law, the policy must have a minimum deductible of $1000 a year for an individual and $2000 for a family; maximum out of pocket expenses; for example, copayments required for surgical procedures, cannot exceed $5100 for individuals and $10,200 for families.

People Help With Their Own Health Insurance

Policyholders, meanwhile, can set up HSAs that they fund with their own money. Employers also can contribute to their workers’ HSAs. HSA contributions, generally set an amount equal to the policy’s deductible, can best be used to cover health care costs, and unused money can be carried over at year’s end. This differs from company sponsored Flexible Spending Accounts, health care savings plans in which unused money is forfeited after Dec 31 of each year.

Some companies are replacing existing catastrophic health coverage plans with the new plans because they see HSAs as a good way for workers to handle the higher deductibles. Others see them as a way of making workers more mindful of health care spending.

Health Insurance For The Young And Uninsured

The new policies are especially attractive to young singles, people in relatively good health and higher income people who can afford to cover higher out of pocket costs.

The new policies also are attractive to small businesses and the uninsured. Of the new policies purchased through eHealthInsurance, more than 40% were purchased by people with annual incomes below $50,000, almost half were families and more than one-third had been uninsured.

Affordable Health Insurance

It’s the affordability. Participants get a lower cost premium and the money they probably would have been spending can be run through a savings account to buy day to day medical services.

More companies will adopt the plans because the trend is that more of the burden for health benefits is going to be moved to the employee.

On the other hand, people who can afford to fund the HSAs and don’t need to draw them down entirely to cover annual medical expenses will be able to let them grow tax-free. In retirement, the excess savings can be used to purchase long-term care insurance and to pay for other qualified medical expenses.

That means that they’re more popular for those approaching retirement age, especially if they don’t have company plans available to them.

There are many health insurance alternatives, so it’s important that people asses their individual needs.

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As a self employed person, I carry my own health and life insurance for my family. When making the move from New Jersey to North Carolina in 2004 I knew two things about our health insurance:

1. I would have to shop for a health insurance provider covering North Carolina.

2. Rates would be cheaper than in New Jersey, with costs being about half of what I had been paying and with slight better coverage.

Several weeks before we moved I contacted a well known internet insurance broker and received quotes. We selected one company and received the paperwork from the broker about ten days before our move. Quite frankly, I wish I had started the process a little earlier as all of our free time was dedicated toward preparing and making the move. So, I ended up packing the paperwork with my personal stuff and was only able to fill it out and submit it one week after our arrival in North Carolina.

Dealing with the online insurance broker was a simple task, but I soon discovered that they were an extra step in the application process, one that only slowed down our approval.

Once the paperwork was received by the broker, they acknowledged the same via email and mentioned that they would review our package before forwarding it to the health insurance company.

Over the next couple of weeks we received messages from the insurance broker stating the following:

1. We are in the process of reviewing your application.

2. We have sent your application off to the insurance company.

3. The insurance company has your application and will be reviewing it in about one week.

4. The insurance company expects a delay in reviewing your application due to the high volume of applications received.

5. Please do not contact the insurance company directly; we will keep you posted as to the status of your application. Yeah, right.

Originally, we were assured by the insurance broker that the health insurance company would review and approve our application within two weeks. Follow up phone calls by us to the broker along with several exchanges of emails revealed that this was not going to happen. In addition, when we contacted the health insurance company directly at the encouragement of the broker the health insurance company had difficulty finding our application. Within a few days the application was found sitting in another department; our contact at the health insurance company blamed the broker for sending the information to the wrong address.

As it turned out, the original insurance quote we received online was off by just over 20%. Once the health insurance company determined that certain pre existing conditions needed to be factored in our rates rose accordingly. Of course, when working with the internet broker we knew that the rate quoted wasnt absolute but the big jump was still a bitter pill to swallow.

Among our thoughts at that point in the process were:

1. Had we known ahead of time that our final rate would be so high, we would have shopped around some more.

2. Because of the delays and the passage of time, we needed to complete the application process as our coverage with the NJ health provider would need to be canceled, preferably by the end of the year.

By the middle of December, a full ten weeks after we submitted our paperwork, we received official notification that our application was approved and that we were covered. During the last couple of weeks of the lengthy application process we contacted the health insurance company directly several times to learn what the status of our application was. At no time during the process were we assured that we would receive approval; essentially we were told that coverage would begin pending approval.

In conclusion, I offer the following recommendations for shopping for health insurance:

1. Comparison shop online. Get quotes through the online brokers to get a general idea of what your costs will be. If you have pre-existing conditions, the prices quoted will not be reflected in your quote.

2. Narrow down the list of companies quoted to three and then contact them directly. Bypass the broker as they are an unnecessary additional step in what certainly is not a quick approval process.

3. If you need insurance by a particular date, apply well in advance to allow for delays, for misplaced paperwork, changes in your application, etc. Our insurance coverage was approved effective a specific date, but we were able to move it to another date to coincide with the dropping of our NJ health care provider.

In all, the experience was wearisome at times and a real eye opener. I know you see ads all the time for online insurance quotes. I am not saying to avoid the sites, but please consider what we went through before using an online broker exclusively.

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Most people often find it expensive to opt for a health insurance. They are of the notion that they would rather spend this money if ever any health issue arises. If you are an average ordinary person, consider a time in a month where you have just paid your monthly bills, had your mortgage settled out, and are just satisfied with the way things have turned out. But things may go wrong if you fall ill all of a sudden. Remember, we set apart an amount of money for all of our expenses except for health related issues. It is not uncommon. People tend to save money on literally everything, but just couldnt afford to save a few hundred dollars for their own health.

Health Insurance may not be as expensive as one would think. Over the years, various health insurance companies have evolved with interesting health and medical insurance packages that are easier on the pocket, all the while providing top quality service. Unlike the previous days, we are provided with an opportunity to compare and select different health insurance and life insurance packages that appeal to us the most. Now for a few hundred dollars a month, you can insure your whole family against unpredictable circumstances and provide them with quality treatment facilities. Compare this to the actual costs that may be incurred during some serious illness. We are talking about thousands of dollars saved.

HSA or Health Savings Account is another option of saving money on health insurance. HSA lets you gain the full advantage of health insurance plans, and also provides you with competitive tax benefits. HSA is more like a savings account, where you are required to invest a few hundred dollars monthly. You will get a fixed interest on this money, and the money being invested in HSA is absolutely tax free. Also, there is nothing known as maturity of the insurance plan, and you can withdraw any amount of money for your medical expenses from your HSA anytime you want. All you will need is to pay off the deficient amount in the subsequent monthly payments. Health Savings Account is just another reason to save money for your extra needs.

Compare HSA plans that are suitable for you and that is quite affordable to accommodate your daily expenditure and savings. Research is the major part of saving money on insurance. It is always important to look up the various rates and packages of health insurance providers, and they provide you with an easy to use interface to research and select free quotes from some of the top notch health insurance companies.

It would also be worthwhile to keep a regular check and update on the health insurance rates of the present day market. You wouldnt want to end up paying extra, especially at times when the economy requires you to save as much money as possible. For this, you could re-evaluate your insurance rates and packages every six to twelve months, or you can also go in for short duration insurance packages. Either way, never ever forget that you have a health insurance package, and take care to avoid any defaults. Insurance companies usually associate a * along with their terms and conditions which states that you are supposed to be making payments at prescribed intervals, or you lose all the benefits. Pay your premiums on time and stay protected anytime and anywhere.

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