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Tips to Keep Your Health Insurance as Cheap as Possible

You could be paying more for health insurance than you need to be. The policy that you purchased five years ago may not be appropriate for you now. That’s why I suggest reexamining your insurance needs every single year. You may be paying too much for services that you don’t need. If you want to lower your health insurance’s premium payments, these tips could help.

Health Insurance Tip #1 – Increase Your Deductible

You can reduce the amount of money that you have to pay on a monthly basis by increasing the amount of your health insurance deductible. I would suggest picking a deductible amount that is just enough to cover the emergencies you rather not. The key is having enough coverage to protect your assets, but not so much that you hurt yourself more financially in the short run than you need to.

Health Insurance Tip #2 – Look at Your Spouse’s Policy

Your spouse and you may want to examine your insurance policies each year to see who has the best coverage and what your options may be. You may find that you can save a lot of money by switching over to your spouse’s plan and abandoning your own policy. On the other hand, you may find that having separate insurance policies is the most affordable option. Each insurance plan offers different rates and coverages for dependents, so I’d suggest checking your options annually.

Health Insurance Tip #3 – Buy Your Own Policy

If you get your insurance through a group policy at your job, remember to get outside quotes annually to ensure you aren’t forking over more in premiums than you may need to pay. For example, young people working in a small business with a majority of older coworkers may be paying more than they would have to on their own plan. You can quickly compare rates online to see how much a private plan will cost you versus the company health plan you are on right now.

Health Insurance Tip #4 – Get a Health Savings Account

A health savings account (HSA) can help you hold onto more of your own money. If you have a high deductible insurance plan and team it up with an HSA, you will get a significant tax deduction for your contributions and have lower premium payments at the same time. The drawback is the high deductible on your plan, but just a couple of years of HSA savings could be used to cover the high deductible in case of an emergency. An FSA is similar, but doesn’t roll over from year to year.

Health Insurance Tip #5 – Stay Healthy

Getting out of shape is not only bad for your health but it will cost you more money as well. Since people that are overweight have a statistically higher risk of disease, health insurance companies charge higher rates. Some companies get an overall discount by actively attempting to improve the overall health of their workers. I know several friends of mine that actually earn a few hundred dollars a year directly from their places of employment by keeping their cholesterol and blood pressure below acceptable levels. If you have your own personal policy, you have even more control over your premiums due to your personal health factors.

What other ways do you know of to keep your health insurance as affordable as possible?

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2 COMMENTS

  1. I agree with all your points but advocate point #5 the most. The more you use insurance the more you will be charged as your plan renews over time. If you can keep yourself healthy and avoid some risk you can greatly reduce the amount that you spend on health insurance. Your health pays the most dividents than any other type of investment.

    -Ravi Gupta

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