How much is health insurance and does it apply the first day you get it?

I was thinking and curious because I have insurance given to me because I am a student but I will soon be graduating and have to get my own? Who can I add to it and is there a limit on what you can get on health insurance? Is Dental separate?
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How much health insurance costs depends upon many things such as what type of plan you get, what levels of coverage you get (amount of deductible, co-pay, co-insurance, and maximum out-of-pocket expenses.) It also depends upon whether you choose an PPO or an HMO. Then it depends upon what company you get it with. No one can tell you exactly what it will cost you. The limit often depends upon how much you are willing to spend for coverage. A young person who has reasonably good health probably doesn't need to have the highest coverage since it will cost you more for things that you may not need. You might need to have surgery or be injured in an auto accident, so you would need to have hospitalization coverage. However, if you are in good health, you probably won't use the hospitalization coverage very much (if at all) for some time to come, so it most likely would not pay to have the lowest co-insurance for hospitalization. (Instead of a 10% co-insurance, a 30% co-insurance might be a better choice. 20% co-insurance is what a lot of people with families have and are happy with it.) Hopefully, after you graduate you will get a job that has good benefits with it. "Good benefits" would include being offered the option of a group health-care plan. Dental care is pretty much a separate item from health care. However, some health care insurers also have dental plans. If you need help understanding terms such as co-pay, co-insurance, deductible, and out-of-pocket maximum, check out the Resolved section under Insurance on Yahoo Answers because there have been several questions asked lately about the meanings of those terms and they have been explained in relatively clear and easily understood ways. When does it apply? It depends. Many things are paid for from the first day you have it. Some conditions are subject to a period of exclusion. However, if you can prove that you were covered by a health-care plan up until you applied for the one that you get, the period of exclusion may not apply. An example of exclusion. If you were to get your insurance this morning and this evening you were to fall and break your leg, that would not be subject to exclusion since there would not be a way of knowing in advance that you were going to break your leg. However, if you were already pregnant before you applied for insurance, that would be subject to a period of exclusion since you already knew about it before applying for health insurance. (This exclusion does not always apply to group health plans offered through employers.) It is much easier to get coverage through a group plan with an employer (and your coverage can start almost right away). If you get it on your own, it can take a lot more time to be approved since you often have to pass a physical including blood and urine tests.
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