Cheap medical health insurance? Unlikely.
Reader question:
Are medical health insurance prices ever going to go down?
Amber
Probably not.
The system kind of works against itself. Medical care costs a lot, and people need medical health insurance companies to help them pay for it. At the same time, though, medical health insurance drives up medical bill costs, and it just keeps on chasing itself around in a circle. Circles don’t end, so the likelihood that medical health insurance or health care costs will go down anytime in the near future short of a miracle is very unlikely.
The most important thing to do when looking for a medical health insurance plan is to shop around and compare quotes from different companies. This can often be done on the internet, where quote comparison sites save you a lot of time and money by comparing quotes from several different companies.
Still, once you get a quote and take out a medical health insurance policy, don’t expect that you will be paying the same forever. Insurance companies do everything they can to charge more money, and in many states its very easy to increase prices without any pre-approval. Often, a health insurance company can just send in a request to increase rates and they can immediately start charging those increased rates without an answer, and can only be stopped if they are reviewed and it’s decided that they charge too much.
Your rates could go up even if you don’t make any health insurance claims and are part of a group health insurance plan. The reason this could happen is that somebody else in your group may be making health insurance plans, and then the rates will raise for everybody, no matter in what good health you are. Rates in group health insurance are decided by the group’s total average history, not your individual claim history.
Cheers,
Fashun Guadarrama.
Student health insurance is important
If you’re a student, student health insurance should be near the top of your list of priorities. You’re away from home and probably aren’t depending on the parents as much anymore, and without that place on your family’s health insurance policy, a student health insurance plan is the only way to insure that you are taken care of so that you don’t end up slouching under the weight of medical debt for the rest of your life. You want to get that good job and live good after college, not be worrying about the thousands and thousands of dollars in medical costs even after you pay off your student loans.
But the strange truth is that college students, even ones studying medicine, are opting out of student health insurance. The widely held belief seems to be that the university clinic is an okay way to take care of your medical needs. It isn’t. Student health clinics are sub standard and don’t see to your needs. If you want real coverage an protection, you need to get student health insurance.
Different insurance companies will give you different quotes on your student health insurance premium. Because of this, the most important step in taking out a student health insurance policy is to shop around. That means finding quotes from different companies and comparing. There are plenty of sites on the internet that provide you with free quotes, and it’s very easy to do the research.
Once you have these quotes, you’ll be able to narrow it down to a list and talk to your insurance companies personally. Here are a few questions that you should ask:
- What is the maximum that I am covered for?
- Do I have to get a referral if I want to see a specialist?
- Is the student health insurance policy for both undergaduates and graduate students?
- Do I get to choose my own doctor? From a list, or freely?
- What does it cost?
- How high is the deductible?
- Am I covered to go see a doctor when I am not sick or injured?
- Am I covered while traveling?
These are important questions to ask, but if you think of more, go ahead by all means. Anything that you can do to help you narrow it down.
The deductible is a really important aspect. If you get a higher one, you’ll get cheap health insurance rates. But if you do end up opting for a higher one, consider that it should be something you’ll be able to afford. If you’re a medical student, you could get some professional courtesy, which will make things cheaper but won’t apply to deductibles.
Cheers,
Fashun Guadarrama