Individual
Health Insurance: Get Quick Quotes with Tips for Smart Buying!
Looking for cheap health care insurance that's true major medical coverage? With a minimal inquiry on your part, we help make it possible to find affordable, individual health insurance. Here you can request individual health insurance quotes from top rated companies, simply by filling in the short interview form. Your input will generate proposals for affordable coverage based, in part, on the criteria you provide.
We encourage you to use our site, not only to obtain quotes, but also to learn more about insurance and the kinds of coverage that are available. 
Most people think health insurance is confusing—and they are correct. While some terms have the same definition across the industry, companies have the right to determine what benefits they will offer with their plans, what range of deductibles they want to offer, and what exclusions will apply to their products. Having an education in some of the most basic insurance concepts will help ensure that you will have a way to pay the bill when you need care.
For example, are you aware of the types of care that no individual medical coverage will pay for? Two such examples would be long term care and disability. The policy that pays your doctor will not pay for you to stay in a nursing home; for this you need long term care insurance. At the same time, have you made the mistake of thinking you have "nursing home" coverage because you have something called "long term disability." Disability insurance replaces your income if you should become disabled; this income replacement disability insurance also is not covered by your individual medical coverage. While it is understandable that people often feel "insurance poor," it is nevertheless a fact that the various types of health insurance do not overlap, and having all but the one you need will not be very helpful if disaster occurs.
Cheap health insurance coverage, 101
Do the prices of individual health insurance make you feel like having adequate coverage is a hopeless task? Consider purchasing a catastrophic plan or setting up a health savings account which you can use—tax free—to pay the smaller routine bills, saving the insurance coverage itself for the unexpected, costly events that you could never pay out of your own pocket. Other possibilities are indemnity plans, fraternity plans, health co-ops which are available in some states, or even HMO plans which are often cheaper in return for allowing a primary care doctor—called a gate keeper—to have the say in sending you for tests, second opinions and specialists.
Perhaps you wonder why you need to read all about health insurance if you are going to need to deal with an agent at some point anyway. Most agents will do their best to provide information, but many specialize in particular types of insurance such as life insurance, long term care insurance, health insurance, or disability insurance. While any life/health producer will know the basics about any type of insurance they are licensed to sell, they are likely to be most knowledgeable about the type of insurance offered by the company they work for. A captive agent is unlikely to know much about types of insurance their company doesn't offer. An agent who works independently, on the other hand, may have a much wider range of products available, but may not be familiar with the "fine print" details related to many of their policies. They will most certainly try to find a policy that meets the criteria you set, and the longer an agent has been in business, the greater will be their understanding about the products. However, companies change policy offerings regularly—taking some products off the market, adding new ones, changing others. It is virtually impossible for an agent to be fully informed on every possibility if they are trying to sell policies for multiple companies.
Your best option is to inform yourself to the extent that you are able, and then try to work with an agent who is not necessarily captive, but who limits him or herself to only a few companies—just enough to have a sufficient range of products and still be able to be fully educated on the products he or she does have access to.
Topics to check out
Here are some ideas for some of the basic topics that you should learn about while looking for health insurance appropriate for you.
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Major medical vs Catastrophic Care Insurance
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Long Term Care Insurance
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Disability Insurance
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Health Savings Accounts
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Health Maintenance Accounts (HMOs)
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Preferred Provider Organizations (PPO)
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Family / Individual Plans
Terms to Learn
Before making an appointment with an agent, it will be helpful to educate yourself on the following terms.
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Deductible: the amount you pay before the insurance pays anything
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Copay/ Coinsurance: the amount you pay the caregiver after your deductible has been met
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Exclusions: conditions not covered by the policy
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Out of Pocket max: the cost you must incur before the policy will pay 100%
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Riders: added benefits that also add to your premium such as vision or dental
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Pre-existing conditions: conditions that existed prior to purchasing the insurance
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Premium: the amount you pay each month for having coverage
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In network vs Out of network: doctors in the network are usually those who have agreed to accept the insurance schedule of payment
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Ambulatory Coverage (has nothing to do with an ambulance): tests and diagnostic procedures such as blood work
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Prescription Drug Coverage
