Smoking and Health Insurance Premiums
If you are a smoker, you can reduce your premiums by as much as a few hundred dollars just by quitting. This is due to the fact that health insurance companies know that people who smoke get sick more often and use proportionally more medical services than non-smokers. Equally important to insurers, the type of services smokers are likely to use are generally more expensive than those used by non-smokers, particularly when you consider diseases such as emphysema and lung cancer. The savings on your health insurance premiums is not the only benefit you will receive.
If you are sick less often and using fewer medical services, this would mean lower out-of-pocket expenses for co-pays, and for doctor visits and prescriptions. That easily adds up to another couple hundred dollars in your pocket. If you are also a pack-a-day smoker and you quit, at a conservative $3.50 per pack, which is nearly $1,300 in savings per year alone.
Anyone trying to quit smoking and needing help should visit QuitNet.com. Aside from providing a lot a helpful tips and articles on quitting smoking, you can plug in your zip code and receive a list of smoking cessation support programs in your area.
Affordable Health Insurance Quotes
The question of affordable health insurance is different for everyone. What may be affordable to a family of four with a gross annual income of $75,000 may be completely unaffordable for another family of four making $35,000 a year. It is up to you to decide what is most affordable for you to pay. However, there are a slew of online health insurance quote sites that can help you gather information on premiums, covered services, and other important insurance plan information.
You can find some examples by visiting Insurelane.com or MonsterQuote.com. This portal includes links to a host of trustworthy quote sites. Another site to visit for those with children is InsureKidsNow.gov, which includes links to information on low cost health insurance for kids in all 50 states plus the District of Columbia.
Lowering Health Insurance Premiums
The high costs of health insurance appear to be with us for good, but there are some steps you can consider to achieve more affordable health insurance premiums.
Consider the type of plan you are using. While fewer than 5% of Americans are covered under traditional indemnity/fee-for-service health insurance plans, if you're one of them you can save yourself a bundle by switching to an HMO or PPO. Likewise, if you are in a PPO, switching to an HMO will save you a lot of money, in exchange for reduced flexibility in health care choices.
Whether you are in an indemnity, PPO or HMO, take a closer look at your deductible. The lower your deductible, the higher your premium. If you have a low deductible, consider raising it. If your deductible is in the mid-range, consider switching to a high deductible health plan and opening a health savings account, which offer many tax advantages and can shave hundreds to thousands of dollars off your annual income tax bill. Finding affordable health insurance does not have to be impossible.
Single Versus Two-Person Policy Costs
If you and your domestic partner or spouse are employed and each has access to group health insurance through your respective employer, you need to consider all your options. There are ways of finding cheap health insurance, and today health insurance consumers must be vigilant about considering the costs for each insurance policy. Since both of you are eligible for single-person employer-sponsored coverage, you wil need to figure out if it would be more economical for one of you to add the second person to his or her policy.
Each situation is different, but you should, at a minimum consider the following:
- Total premiums to be paid for two single-person policies vs. one two-person policy
- Total deductibles you would have to pay under each scenario
- Services covered under each scenario
- Total out-of-pocket maximums under each scenario
While the premium for a two-person plan will probably be more expensive than either single-person policy, when you consider total overall costs, a two-person policy may actually save you money in the end. Another thing to consider: Some employers actually give money back to employees who do not enroll in the company's health plan. Do not forget to factor that in as an offset to your total overall expenses when considering expenses.
Finding Low Cost Health Insurance
The statistics on health insurance affordability are grim: Since 2000, health insurance costs have spiked 59% while in that same period of time worker's pay has only increased 12%. With the cost of health insurance squeezing the family budget ever tighter, more and more families are dropping the coverage they have because they cannot afford it. Finding low cost health insurance is difficult these days.
Your best bet as far as insuring a family is to try to get employer-sponsored health insurance. Even though you will likely need to contribute to cover the cost of the premiums, employers are able to get far better rates for a group than you would be able to get buying an individual policy. A plus is that employers will pay part of the premium.
If your employer does not offer insurance, or if you are a freelance contract worker or small business owner, see about joining a professional organization or union. Many of them offer access to group health insurance for members. Finally, if you have to consider an individual (private) health insurance plan, a health maintenance organization (HMO) will be the least expensive followed by a preferred provider organization (PPO). While HMOs require cutting through a lot of red tape and will limit your medical care options in terms of where and when you can receive services, most offer fairly robust coverage to families.