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Choosing a Health Insurance Plan Is Not ‘Shopping

This is not shopping. Shopping is a fun activity, like choosing a pie from the bakery or picking out cereal at the supermarket. The farthest thing from “shopping” is the arduous annual ritual of reviewing the complex and all but impossible to decipher health insurance options.

That’s partly because insurers do their best to make the experience as miserable as possible. Many of them offer up less-than-accurate lists of providers and participating institutions. They reserve the right to deny you coverage of a service, and you won’t know if they have until the day you need it — and maybe after the fact. Prospectuses are complex, and few of us fully understand them. Only 9 percent of…

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Featured

 Your Step-by-Step Guide to Choosing a Health Insurance Plan

Most people with health insurance get it through an employer. If you’re one of those people, you won’t need to use the government insurance exchanges or marketplaces. Essentially, your company is your marketplace. If your employer offers health insurance and you wish to search for an alternative plan in the exchanges, you can. But plans in the marketplace are likely to cost a lot more.

Articles of Interest

How to Get Health Insurance if You’re Worried About Coronavirus or Have Lost Your Job

There are more options for getting coverage than in past economic crises.

It’s Time to Choose a Health Plan. Prepare Yourself for the Cost

While the cost of job-based health insurance is moderating from earlier punishing increases, premiums are now a burden for many workers, health experts say. They recommend that employees review their options during this year’s open enrollment period to make sure they’re not overlooking some cost savings.

The Basics Of Buying Health Insurance Under The Affordable Care Act

If someone does not receive health insurance through their employer, parents, Medicaid or Medicare, another option is to purchase a private insurance plan on a health care exchange, the virtual marketplaces for health insurance. But before shopping, it is important to understand the basics about health care under the Affordable Care Act (ACA).

Why So Many People Choose the Wrong Health Plans

If you get health insurance from your employer, you have to make decision every year about which coverage to choose. So here is a warning: If you are simply sticking with an old plan with a low deductible, that may well be a wrong and costly choice.

Resources

6 Tips For Choosing A Health Insurance Plan

So take heart — health insurance can be tricky, even for the experts. Here are a few tips to help you find the right plan.

Covered California

Through the Covered California website, qualified individuals and families can sign up for subsidized health insurance coverage. Discounts come in the form of up-front tax credits.

HealthCare.gov

The Health Insurance Marketplace is a new way for you to buy health insurance. In the Marketplace, there are 4 categories of health insurance plans based on how you and the plan can expect to share the costs of care.

eHealth

Our online tools, free quotes, and licensed agents are here to help you find a plan.

Fair Health

Get essential information on costs for thousands of procedures and learn insurance basics.

HealthNetwork

Find a health insurance plan that fits your needs and budget.

InsureKidsNow.gov

Insure Kids Now! is a national campaign to link the nation's uninsured children -- from birth to age 18 -- to free and low-cost health insurance.

MediBid

MediBid is an online marketplace which is about quality, choice, and value. Many insurance companies show you no more than whether your doctor is “in-network” or not. MediBid allows you to see the training, education and experience of the doctor before you make your selection.

Medicare Essentials

Medicare made simple. Find and enroll in the plan that’s right for you!

Medicare Rights

Medicare Rights is here to help consumers and professionals understand and navigate Medicare. Our clear, unbiased resources are trusted by millions to provide important Medicare answers.

NerdWallet

Find a plan that fits your family and your budget.

ObamaCare Facts

The ObamaCare Health Insurance Exchange Marketplace opened Oct 1st, 2013. The ObamaCare health insurance exchanges, or ObamaCare exchanges, are online marketplaces for health insurance. Americans can use their State's "Affordable" Insurance Exchange (also known as a marketplace) to obtain coverage from competing private health care providers.

PAN Foundation

To help underinsured people with life-threatening, chronic and rare diseases get the medications and treatment they need by paying for their out-of-pocket costs and advocating for improved access and affordability.