Goodtipsforhealthypeople - Whether a student or out of school, if you are a young adult or teenager needing an individual health insurance plan to make sure you get valuable health care. Young adults who do not have access to employer or parental health insurance coverage may have option to shop the state-based and federally facilitated exchanges known as the Health Insurance Marketplace.
For those who are not claimed as independents on their parents’ tax returns and have an income between 100 and 400 percent of the federal poverty level may be eligible premium tax credits. Furthermore, those who purchase a silver plan and earn up to 250 percent of FPL may qualify for additional cost-sharing subsidies.
Young adults who are employed full time, may have access to health insurance through their workplace. This is often a desirable route since employers typically pay a portion of premium costs. However, depending on one’s age and how much he or she pays for job-based health insurance coverage, they may have other options.
“A job-based health plan is considered ‘affordable’ if the employee’s share of premiums for the lowest cost self-only coverage that meets the minimum value standard is less than 9.5% of their family’s income.” If, by theses measures, workplace health insurance coverage is not affordable, young adults and others may be able to shop the Health Insurance Marketplace and qualify for subsidies based on income.
An other low cost choice for those younger than 30 can buy a catastrophic plan through the Health Insurance Marketplace. Catastrophic health insurance coverage means an individual pays a lower monthly premium and a higher deductible than he or she would with an individual major medical insurance plan. Benefits typically do not kick in until the deductible has been met; however, under the Affordable Care Act catastrophic plans include three primary care visits and certain preventive care benefits before the deductible has been met.
But before you just blindly start checking out health insurance, it may pay you to take a moment and see what you can do to help lower the cost of your health insurance even further.
First, if your company offers group insurance you need to consider participating in it. Group insurance is almost always less expensive than individual health insurance.
Don't participate in extreme sports or drive a fancy and fast sports car. Having a career than is considered dangerous will also increase your monthly health insurance premium.
Don't smoke - If you smoke or use any tobacco products you are intentionally shortening your life and creating additional health problems for yourself, so you can expect to pay more for your health insurance. The amount of money you can save on health insurance if you don't smoke is significant. Think about it.
Being overweight is a serious problem and one of the most difficult for many people to solve. Part of your health insurance premium will be based on your Body Mass Index, or BMI, which is a fancy way of saying that overweight people pay more for health insurance. Losing even a little weight can often drop you into a lower BMI rating and that can save you hundreds of dollars per year on your health insurance premiums. Losing even a little weight can help.
If you can afford it, see if you can increase your copay. Your co-payment, or copay, is the percentage of your doctor visit charges that you pay out of your own pocket, and the percentage of your lab work and other medical expenses that you pay. Increasing your copay from 25% to 50% can dramatically decrease your monthly health insurance premiums. This is an especially good tactic for people who do not see their doctor on a regular basis.
Now you've got a good idea of what your options are when it comes to lowering your monthly health insurance bill, so get online and start comparing among the different insurance companies. The multitude of health insurance-comparison websites makes it relatively quick and easy to compare policies and prices.
Although you buy online you'll pay the same monthly premium for the same plan, like you buy from your local agent, or directly from the health insurance company, Because Health insurance premiums are filed with and regulated by your state's Department of Insurance. This means that you can choose cheap health insurance plan but still allowing you to create the perfect policy for your needs.