(LifeWire) - Health insurance is not cheap under any scenario. But if you don't have a job that offers subsidized group coverage, you'll need to look for some low-cost options for individual health insurance.
Take some advice from the US Department of Health and Human Services' Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality: Consider the premium, but also factor in each policy's deductibles, copays and limits on out-of-pocket expenses. Add these together and consider what each policy would cost you, in total, given your overall health, before you choose.
Here are some of your options:
Individual Insurance
If you don't have a serious health condition, you can buy insurance on the open market right away.
Your main choice is between an HMO and a preferred provider organization. And your main considerations are:
- Do you have a favorite doctor or group of specialists?
- Do you regularly use routine medical services such as checkups, vaccinations or emergency room visits?
An HMO tends to be the cheapest and best option if you need a lot of routine care -- if, for example, you have children. But HMOs tend to limit the physicians you can see and the facilities you can visit to a fairly narrow set.
PPOs generally give you a more extensive list of providers but may impose more out-of-pocket costs for routine and preventive care.
If you do have a serious medical condition, take heart: Federal law won't let insurers exclude you from coverage for that condition for more than 12 months after your coverage begins, if you have an employer-offered policy. The exclusion limit varies by state on individual policies. Your premiums may be quite high once you're fully covered, however.
Group Policies
Group insurance tends to be cheaper than personal insurance because the insurer's risk of having to pay for treatment is spread across more premium payers.
You don't have to belong to a big group to get a group rate. If, for example, you are self-employed and your spouse helps you part time, you might be considered a group.
Spouse or Domestic Partner CoverageIf your spouse or domestic partner works for a company that offers group coverage, you may be able to get yourself added to his policy.
This coverage probably will cost less than you would pay for your own policy.
Hospital/Surgical Plans
It's possible to buy policies that will cover you only if you need surgery or are hospitalized.
Though the premiums tend to be low, you might end up spending more on out-of-pocket expenses than you would with a traditional plan, especially if you need many routine office visits. And do you want to be in a surgical recovery bed and worry about how you're going to pay for follow-up care?
Catastrophic Health Insurance
Catastrophic plans involve buying insurance with a high deductible -- often $2,000 or more -- and self-insuring yourself for most costs up to that amount. Premiums are cheaper because insurers have to pay out less often.
You can combine catastrophic insurance with a health savings account, which lets you set aside tax-free money to pay your out-of-pocket expenses. But you must be sure you can pay for the routine care you need and that your out-of-pocket expenses won't be higher than they would be under a general policy with a higher premium, or you will gain no advantage.
State Plans
All states at least offer some coverage for uninsured children from lower-income families. Check your state's offerings for uninsured kids.
