Consumer Guide to Health Care
Buying Health Insurance as an Individual
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Look for other access to insurance
If you do not have access to any
employer-based insurance, do you belong to or could you
join any group or association that might offer you a
discount on health insurance? Keep in mind that some
of these plans may have limited coverage, so make sure
you know exactly what you are getting.
Health savings accounts
There are several types of health spending accounts on the
market today. Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) are one type of
health spending account. Information
on HSAs is available.
Your rights and obligations
Finding insurance as an individual means special concerns including
generally higher costs and less complete coverage. In addition,
your health can affect the type of coverage you can get.
Before you can buy an individual policy you must give the insurance
company information about your health. This process is called
medical underwriting.
Some things to look out for
As the cost of health care rises, health
insurance scams are becoming more common. Watch out
for unlicensed insurers that offer cheap coverage but
then refuse to pay claims. Also be wary of so-called
"discount health plans" that are not really
insurance at all, but advertise in ways that make it sound
as if they are. When in doubt, contact Wisconsin's
Office
of the Commissioner of Insurance at (608) 266-3585
(from Madison) or (800) 236-8517 to confirm that you are
working with a licensed insurer. Remember, if it
sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
Working with an agent
If you are trying to decide whether to work with an
insurance agent or to contact the insurance companies
directly, keep in mind that some insurance companies only
work through agents/brokers while some agents only offer
insurance for one or two insurance companies.
Buying insurance on the Internet
There are several commercial tools such as Insure.com,
eHealthinsurance.com,
and healthcareshopper.com
available on the Internet that provide instant insurance
quotes. Before you use this approach, consider the precautions
(PDF, 27 KB) suggested by the National Association of Insurance
Commissioners.
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Last Modified: August 24, 2011
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