How To Save Hundreds On Health Insurance

Share

By By Connie Thompson

Summary

We have some tips that can drop your health premiums by as much as a few hundred dollars a month.

Story Published: Jul 1, 2004 at 3:58 PM PDT

Story Updated: Jul 24, 2009 at 11:40 AM PDT

How To Save Hundreds On Health Insurance
SEATTLE - There's some information your insurance company might not tell you that could end up saving you thousands of dollars.

The Hill family was paying over $700 a month for health insurance. But not anymore after using the Web to find a better price.

Before they made the discovery the Hill family was in a pickle. Heather had lost her job in a merger, and her second child had been born with cerebral palsy.

The whole family was covered by her husband's group policy at work. It costs $760 a month -- over $9,000 a year. That was too much for one income.

So Heather Hill got onto the Web and searched. She stumbled upon a Web site called ehealthinsurance.com.

"You just put in your age, who the applicants are, who else needs to be covered," she said.

It lets you shop around and compare premiums with many providers, such as Premera, Lifewise, and Regence Blue Cross.

Insurance expert Bob Hurley says he went to work for ehealthinsurance because it lets you take more control over you health insurance.

Here are four easy ways he says you can save money:

  • If you don't go to the doctor very much, increase your co-pay and increase your deductible. You can save a lot of money on your monthly premium.

  • And don't automatically put the whole family on an employee group plan. Consider an individual policy over an employee group policy for spouse or dependants.

  • Generally healthy people can also save by only getting catastrophic coverage.

  • And shop around, compare what you have, with what can get from other providers.

    Heather took herself off her husband's group insurance and bought an individual policy with a high deductible. And boy, did that make a difference!

    The Hills ended up saving over $5,000 a year by dropping their monthly premium to just over $400 a month.

    Like similar Web sites, ehealthinsurance.com are paid for by insurance companies, so not all insurance companies might be listed on the site. However, a spokesman says they feature more than 77 companies, including top A rated companies in Washington.

    For More Information:

    www.ehealthinsurance.com