How to save money

People who want to save on auto insurance, live next door to where they work and organize their lives to do without a vehicle. When it comes to health insurance, nothing works. You could cover yourself in bubble wrap and have yourself stored in a controlled environment, but that will not stop you from falling ill. Whatever you do, wherever you go, there’s always the risk of an accident or an infection. So, the decision on health insurance comes down to this. If you cannot find work with a health plan, you either buy privately or rely on the Emergency Room of your local hospital if there’s a serious problem. In fact, somewhere between 45 and 50 million people living in the US have no medical cover. So, for these purposes, let’s assume you have some money available and now want to find the best policy within your budget. The unscientific approach is to ask all your friends and people you work with what they do about their insurance. You will find as many opinions as there are people. Some will have good stories, others horror stories. But, if the same names come up as providing a good service, store that information away for later. Do not bother looking around the standard consumer review and opinion sites on the internet. Almost without exception, they are manipulated by the insurance industry and bad reviews are balanced out with favorable words. You never know which are real, if any.

This site and others like it give you the chance to get quotes from all the top insurers in your state. Now go to the website operated by the insurance department or commissioner for your state. The best of these sites contain advice and publish the list of the health insurance companies with the worst track record in dealing with claims. With the US economy in a recession, it’s also a good idea to check out the financial stability of the companies. A site like www.ambest.com/ gives a good overview of the industry. It would be unfortunate if you insure with a company and, in six months time, it has no money left to pay claims.

So with lists of companies to avoid and companies that are financially sound, you can start going through the health insurance quotes. Because this is a free service, you can search as many times as you want, e.g. to see the effect of changing the amount of the deductible. Now look carefully at the small print on the health problems included and, more importantly, those excluded. You are looking for a reasonable range of cover at an affordable price. Only with multiple health insurance quotes to draw from are you likely to see trends and identify the best options. Then hit the telephone and talk to the companies to confirm the detail of what they cover. Internet search followed by telephone discussion always saves you the most money.