How to Buy Minimum Health Insurance

Choose the minimum amount of insurance necessary for you and your family if you are just trying to cover unexpected medical costs. There are many types of health insurance policy options available through employers, brokers and private insurance companies. Employees are not required to take insurance policies offered by their employer. Due to rising insurance costs, more and more people are electing to customize their own insurance packages to fit their individual needs.

Instructions

• 1

  Make a list of what you need in a minimum health insurance policy. One insurance policy does not necessarily fit every family's health care needs. Are you looking for a high deductible? Just looking for basic health care coverage in case of emergencies? Are you expecting a new addition to your family and need more coverage? Determine exactly what is important for your situation. For information on types of coverage, see References below.

• 2

  Contact a health insurance broker to discuss your insurance needs. This is probably the best place to start as health insurance brokers work with a variety of different insurance companies. Brokers will be familiar with the basic plan coverage and be able to recommend a plan to fit your needs. For more information on choosing a broker, see References below.

• 3

  Discuss health insurance alternatives with your physician's office. The employees at this office are experienced in dealing with insurance companies. They can recommend which ones to use, which ones may not be helpful for your needs and perhaps even other insurance alternatives.

• 4

  Consider purchasing a minimum health insurance policy for the adults in your immediate family. Many states offer insurance for children through the Insure Kids Now and Children's Health Insurance Program. These programs were designed to make sure children have access to affordable health care. More information on these programs can be found in Resources below.

• 5

  Research the health insurance policies of large national insurance companies directly for information on their private insurance plans. A comparison of plans and insurance companies can be found in References below.

• 6

  Select two or three health insurance companies to contact directly. Call these companies and ask questions about their private policy offerings. Tell the company the type of policy you are looking for and ask them for ideas and alternatives available.

• 7

  Ask your boss or your employer's human resources department if they handle their health insurance plan through an insurance broker or directly through a health insurance company. If they have an insurance broker, ask for the name of this contact. If this broker is already doing business with your firm, perhaps you can work out a deal on a different plan.