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5 WAYS TO LOWER YOUR
HEALTH INSURANCE PREMIUMS!
We get asked the question all the time
"how can I lower my health insurance premiums?"
1) Probably the most effective way to decrease your monthly premium is to go with a higher deductible. Make sure you pay attention to whether it's an annual deductible or per incident deductible.
(Per incident deductible plans are a lot less expensive than plans with annual deductibles, because you stand to spend more out of pocket in any given year).
Try thinking of your insurance premiums as a numbers game, and try playing the averages. Most, if not all years you will come out far ahead if you go with a slightly higher deductible. Let's say you were to put the money you would save in premiums each year in a one year CD, which right now is currently returning around 3-4%. What would it look like in 5 years? Would
you rather earn interest off that money or let the insurance company collect interest off it? If something were to happen to you tomorrow, could you cover for it financially. Or let's say you do have a catastrophic event come along sooner than later, you can always work out a payment plan with the hospital to pay off your high deductible, and they generally can fit into any budget.
2) Co-insurance levels are another excellent way of lowering your premiums and should be given the same careful thought. Co-insurance is the shared costs between the insured and the insurance company. There should be a stop loss or maximum out-of-pocket cost which will protect you against a catastrophic event. These maximum out-of-pocket amounts are typically anywhere in the range of $2,000 to $10,000, plus your annual deductible.
A health insurance plan with an 80/20 or 20%
co-insurance level typically has a much higher
premium than a 50/50 or 50% plan. But at the same time your total out of pocket costs on the 50/50 plan can be much lower in comparison for about the same premium.
3) Try to get healthy and stay healthy! The majority of individual carriers will rate you up as much as 40% if you're a tobacco user. Let's do the math on this and take a 40 year old smoker, and a 40 year old non-smoker for illustration purposes.
- 40 year old non-smoker = $111.35 per month premium!
- 40 year old smoker = $155.89 per month premium!
That's a difference of $44.54 per month! Multiply that by 12 and you're paying an additional $534.48 for the habit every year! Yet another reason to try and kick the habit and lower your premiums at the same time.
Most carrier will only look back 12 to 24 months
with smokers, quit and you could have the non
smoking rate next year!
4) The other choice a lot of people go with when trying to lower their health insurance premiums is going without health insurance completely. Not a recommended solution! Let me know how your trip to the emergency room goes when they find out you have no health insurance. Yes they are required to treat you, but keep in mind they are only required to stabilize your condition before they show you the door. You will also probably get assigned an intern to treat you with minimal actual experience, not to mention the 25,000 bill you'll also get thrown at you when they push you out the door. It's not right but I've seen it happen!
5) Another way and probably the best way to lower your premium is to contact us for a free consultation and plan comparison.
We on average save our clients 20-60% on their premiums, WHILE PUTTING THEM IN A BETTER PLAN THAN THEY HAVE NOW! How do we do this you ask?
Click here to find out!
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What our client's are saying:
Kris had
been a great help to me and my family with our
insurance needs. From the very start he
has been very professional without being pushy.
Kris has made what seemed like an overwhelming
process of finding health insurance an easy
process. I have dealt with many other
agents in the past, and although Kris is not the
closest agent to me I will continue to look to
him for my future insurance needs.
Lindsey &
Darren
Woodland Park, CO
I would like
to take a moment and thank you for what you have
done for me! You have saved me over $120 a
month on my premiums while giving me a better
plan. Thank you so much!
Alex
Aurora, CO
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