- 1). Work for a company that subsidizes your health insurance premiums. Not all employers offer health insurance, because it can be expensive. Generally, the law requires employers offering group workplace plans to subsidize at least 50 percent of insurance premiums. This is helpful to workers, but can be a burden to employers. If your employer does not offer a group plan, ask if they might consider an allowance to help you purchase your own insurance.
- 2). Manage your own health. Most health insurance companies charge you higher premiums if you are overweight, for example, or if you smoke tobacco. If you lose a significant amount of weight, or if you quit smoking, call your insurance company and ask for a rate review. If you do not already have health issues, they may be willing to work with you rather than risk losing your business to another company.
- 3). Increase your deductible. Your deductible is the annual amount of insurance expenses you pay out of pocket before insurance benefits become payable. The higher the deductible, the lower your premium tends to be, all other things being equal. If you qualify, you may consider joining a high-deductible health plan, which qualifies you to contribute to a health savings account.
- 4). Increase your coinsurance amount. Coinsurance is the percentage of medical costs you pay after the deductible is paid. Common coinsurance amounts are 0 percent, 20 percent and 30 percent. For example, under a 20 percent coinsurance plan, or an "80/20 plan," you pay any health insurance costs up to the deductible. Once the deductible has been met, you pay 20 percent of the costs, while the insurance company pays 80 percent. Generally, these plans have an out-of-pocket limit, over which the insurance company pays 100 percent of the medical costs. Be aware that you could still have a substantial liability for medical costs under an 80/20 or 70/30 plan if you should experience a major illness or injury. For example, some forms of cancer cost over $100,000 to treat.
- 5). Explore government options such as Medicaid, for low-income families, or CHIP plans. Each state has a different set of eligibility criteria for Medicaid. In some cases, children are eligible for free or very low-priced health insurance even if parents are not covered. If you have a preexisting condition, you may need to join your state's high-risk program
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