21 Secrets To Discovering Affordable Health Insurance, Part 3

No doubt about it, finding health insurance has become much more difficult in the last ten years than ever before. That said, if you follow the advice in this multiple part series, you will discover many low cost health insurance options. This is part 3 of 4.

Dial The Phone For More Affordable Health Insurance

Phone med services = more affordable health insurance. Phone med services will help you lower your rates significantly. These are free community services that provide medical advice by phone 24/7. Basically, if you want to know about symptoms that you are experiencing but are not fearful that something is really wrong, you call these services and they will tell you what to do.

You can trust the advice you get because they are given by trained professionals (usually not less than a registered nurse with at least 10 years experience). Local clinics provide free medical advice by phone in most cases. And these services are also aware of disease outbreaks (such as West Nile virus) or problems specific to your area (such as Brown Recluse bites) that can be serious. When you give them the symptoms, they will see the signs and tell you that you need to see a doctor right away.

Calling these services first reduces the number of times you see a doctor and as a consequence your total expense rate in the long run. The advice you get from them could also help you take precautions that will prevent a serious ailment. This is reason enough for you to make use of them even if they don't help you reduce your costs. For example, you think that you simply have the flu but they know that there was a more serious outbreak in your area that presents with flu-like symptoms.

A bonus to using these services is that you save a lot of time. A phone call only takes a few minutes whereas driving to the doctor, waiting in the doctor's office, seeing the doctor and then driving back takes much longer.

Eat Right And Hit The Gym For Much More Affordable Health Insurance

Keep up a healthy routine and you'll attract affordable health insurance rates with time and prevent your rates from rising higher over the years. The quality of your diet will eventually have an effect on your health insurance rate. For example, if you eat a lot of fried foods, this will raise your cholesterol levels and make you fatter.

Higher cholesterol makes you much more susceptible to high blood pressure and diabetes. Using its complex tables, the health insurance company will factor this into your rate. Since you would be a higher risk for diabetes and even a heart attack, they will charge you more.

To emphasize, a high Body Mass Index will always get an expensive rate all other things being equal. If your Body Mass Index rating is high it simply means that your weight is too much for your height. Now do not wait until when you can lose 30 pounds because losing as little as 5 pounds can drop you into a lower Body Mass Index rating which will result in lower rates.

Choose An HMO For Affordable Health Insurance

I think that HMOs get a bad rap but they are a great form of affordable health insurance. They are normally less expensive than opting for traditional health insurance. Nevertheless, the reason that they get a bad rap is because joining an HMO means you are restricted to the use of only doctors, other health care professionals and hospitals that are approved by the organization.

If what you think you sacrifice in the limited choices an HMO gives is much more than the advantages, you can still choose regular health insurance. However, really keep an open mind about HMOs. Think about this... health insurance companies really want to help you correct health problems quickly and affordably.

Because of their desire to save money, they put you through a structured process that, most of the time, provides high-quality, low-cost health care. They really don't want you to have to go to three or four doctors because that costs money and they certainly don't want a bad doctor misdiagnosing your condition, leading to even more expensive care.

So, they put you in touch with high-quality doctors so mistakes are limited. Also, they have you go to your primary care doctor first since he or she can deal with most health problems that many people don't think they can cover. This saves them a lot of money. Essentially, it's like taking your car to your mechanic. Your mechanic can deal with 99 out of 100 problems and then refer you to someone for that 1 problem they can't handle. HMOs are an excellent affordable health insurance option.

Decide When Not To Visit Your Doctor

Notwithstanding the fact that you're warned against self-medication, there are times when you shouldn't visit a doctor. Take, for example, a viral infection like flu. A visit to your doctor will change nothing about your health if you understand what to do. It is generally known that doctors cannot do you much good if you have a viral infection.

I mean, what do they usually tell you to do when you have the flu? "Get some rest." Right? Do you really need a doctor to tell you this and charge you $100 for your co-pay? Not really. However, be aware of things that are not right. After all, there is a flu season and you'll probably get it from someone at work or something. But if you are having flu-like symptoms in the middle of the summer then definitely get yourself to the doctor because it's not the flu.

Again, is it wise to spend close to $100 to see a doctor when you already know that your condition would not be helped much? This is also true of simple first aid treatment. If you do not know such little things spend time reading books on them especially if you have little kids. There are several things that you can (and should) take care of if you've invested the time to learn and also have a well-equipped first aid box.

After all, you can buy a butterfly stitch and some iodine at the pharmacy for a couple of bucks. So, when your kids or you get a cut, you can take care of it yourself instead of having to go to the emergency room which can cost three times as much as a regular doctor visit. What's better... $1 to do it yourself or $300 to have the ER nurse take care of it? And that doesn't even factor in the wait time in the ER.

But even in those cases if you are not certain of what to do visit a doctor because it is better err or the side of caution and lose money than to endanger your life. And, even for those who do are versed in first aid, know your boundaries. The law forbids you to do certain things if you are not a certified medical personnel. Just handle what you should handle on your own and avoid what you should not. This will reduce your visits to the doctor and, as well, reduce your health insurance cost.

Warning: All head injuries should be seen by a doctor no matter how small. Many seemingly minor head injuries are actually more serious than they appear to be on the surface. For example, it is possible to have a concussion without a bump on the head because the "bump" is inside the head. It's just not worth the risk.

Always Ask The Price For Your Meds

Did you know that your co-pay could be more expensive than the cost of your drugs? In some cases, it is better for you to get a prescription without the use of your health insurance. I know this might sound crazy but, in those cases, you'll save more by paying out of pocket.

Many people just assume that their co-pay is always less but it's just not true. I found this out a while ago when I lost my insurance after getting laid off. I went to pharmacy expecting to pay twice as much as my co-pay only to discover for the past two years I was actually paying twice as much by using my co-pay. So, do your best to know the difference before you use your insurance.

Also, membership stores such as Costco or Sam's Club are great places to buy your medication. Their prices are always lower and as a member of Costco, I happen to know that they have a special discount (I think 25%) for those that are not insured. Costco is also really good at letting you know when your insurance is the more expensive method but do not rely on them entirely as it is not their responsibility (it's just an extra they try to supply.)

Side Note: Costco recently teamed up with Pacificare to offer an affordable health insurance service. It's definitely worth checking out.

Go To 21 Secrets To Discovering Affordable Health Insurance, Part 4