Consumer’s Health Insurance Blog

To complement my last posting about Why Getting Your Health Insurance at Work Could be Dangerous, I thought it wise to also cover the dangers of getting health insurance on your own.

First of all, there are more scams and pitfalls when you are getting your health insurance on your own. You have many more options to choose from, and many more salespeople that may or may not be reputable, which is why it is important to find a good health insurance agent. Buying only from a licensed health insurance agent and from a licensed health insurer in your state is a great way to start, so get a list of health insurers from your state department of insurance.

The second thing to be aware of is that not all insurance that is licensed in your state is equal. Not every insurer pays claims in the same way, has the same number of insureds, or gives you the same bang for the buck. That’s why it’s important to check out the “complaint ratios”, among other things. You can learn more about this from my article on how to buy health insurance, which is a 12 step process for buying health insurance. One particular thing to be wary of is “stacked” policies that look like they cover a lot of things, but are really not comprehensive health insurance policies in that they probably don’t pay enough for things like intensive care unit daily charges.

A final thought about the dangers of buying health insurance on your own is the chance of being rejected. You don’t want to be rejected ever: there’ll be a record of it at the Medical Information Bureau, a consumer reporting service, and almost all insurers will want to know if you’ve been rejected. Don’t think you can be rejected, or even up-rated so you pay more? Consider that different insurers have different criteria, but some will charge you extra if you use acne medication! Some states don’t have medical underwriting, so this isn’t an issue (MA, ME, VT, NY, NJ, and a few other specific cases). But these same states also have higher minimum premiums for everyone, so that a healthy person and one with a serious medical condition both pay the same monthly amount for coverage.

Jonathan Pletzke is a consumer expert on health insurance and author of the health insurance book Get a Good Deal on Your Health Insurance Without Getting Ripped-Off, available online and at bookstores nationally. Additional details can be found at the consumers health insurance book and resources website www.BestHealthInsuranceBook.com. Copyright 2007-2008 Aji Publishing.

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