Health insurance?

I need it. going to pay out-of-pocket. 40 year old non smoking female, healthy. Any tips? Anything I should know? I've never shopped for health insurance, have no idea what I'm doing.
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If you are self employeed you should take a serious look into Health Savings Accounts, for several reasons, starting with there is a huge savings on your monthly premiums regardless if you are insuring yourself or you and your family. Things that are considered by the insruance companies are the area you live in, the type of work you do and any pre-existing conditions you might have. If you are in the state of California, and you have employees, you need a minimum of two employees and/or 75% of the payroll to participate in the plan (regardless of HSA or regular insurance) to get a guaranteed issuance of the insurance.

If you are not self employeed but do have a job, again the HSA is great way to go, because you can make pretax contirbutions to the plan, take it with you where ever you go, and keep the insurance with you when you retire... which as common sense tells us, you are going to need healthcare much more in your retirement years (ie when you are older) then you will now. Also any qualified medical expenses can be paid tax free from the account, and once you hit your deductable out your account, anything above that is paid for by the backing insurance company.

One note about the non bias oppinon of "brokers," they get paid on a commission as well by the companies they represent, and some companies pay more than others. Just because you are working with an "independant" does not mean you are getting the best price, or service. You want to work with someone who knows the products that they work with inside and out, or have access to the people who do so that all your questions can be answered to your satisfaction. Some times a huge selection does not mean a huge savings in time and money.
Source(s):
Insuarce/Financial advisor 2+yrs
Financial industry 7+yrs
BA Economics
www.alaldrete.com
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