As the popular saying goes, health is wealth. Sound health is the most important factor in life without which we couldn’t do anything. To maintain sound health, one needs to have wealth. However, I’m aware of the sad fact that not so many people have the means to afford a proper medical checkup to ensure they have good health. Therefore, I have written the 15 cheapest ways to get health insurance.
According to a recent statics by the American society of health, one in every three Americans finds it difficult to buy health insurance before they turn 30.
Health insurance isn’t always cheap, which is why most people cannot buy one. But in this post, I shall reveal to you, the cheapest ways to get health insurance. All you need to do is spare some minutes of your time and go through this post diligently.
While reading this post, you would probably find some points you are familiar with, notwithstanding, I urge you to read the post to the end as I guarantee you will come across some points that would help you secure cheap health insurance.
Cheapest Ways to get health insurance in 2022
#1. Employer Insurance
One of the best ways to get cheap health insurance is to go through your employer. Are you employed? If yes, then you might discuss with your employer about the health insurance plan. If you work with a sizeable company, then you should have a good health insurance plan in place.
But if you work in a company that generates little yearly returns, you could still get a good health insurance plan by negotiating with your employer. You could get the employer to subsidize the cost of your health insurance.
Most times, an employer health insurance plan covers your family. They usually offer two types of insurance plans, which are–premium plans and low-cost plans. It depends on what you want, and this would likely reflect on your take-home pay.
#2. Go through Healthcare.gove
Another means of accessing affordable health insurance plan is through www.healthcare.gov, although the platform has received some negative reviews with many saying the plans are not as affordable as they had wished, some users have expressed satisfaction with the platform.
Healthcare. givers offer a variety of health insurance packages (bronze, silver, gold, and platinum) depending on your annual wages. Data collected by the KFF shows that a married couple with an income of $85,000 would average $849 per month in premium payments for a “silver” plan.
While a married couple earning $45,000 per year would qualify for subsidies and pay $304 per month.
Bronze level plans are the cheapest in terms of premiums but don’t offer the most robust coverage. This is one of the cheapest ways to get health insurance today.
#3. Health Care Sharing Ministries
Being a member of religious groups comes with a lot of benefits and health insurance could be one of such benefits. There are a handful of ministries that that share cost among members and if you are a member of such ministries, you could benefit in a subsidized health insurance plan.
Not all ministries qualify as insurance. For a ministry to be qualified for insurance, it must meet some requirements which include- should be a non for profit, members must share the same religious or ethical beliefs and must have been registered before the year runs out.
You might need to look-up on ministries and join the one that suits you. Some ministries through which you could get cheap health insurance include;
Christian Healthcare Ministries – This ministry offers health insurance plan to members at a subsidized rate. The offer depends on your monthly income with the plan ranging from 45 to 150 dollars. To learn more about this ministry visit https://www.chministries.org
Medi Share – This is another Christian ministry that was established with the motion of helping members share their burdens. This group is credited with saving so many lives so since its inception. Members are required to make monthly payment of between 180 and 625 dollars. To learn more about the group, visit https://medishare.com
#4. High Deductible Plans
You may need to consider going with high deductible plans if you have good health on the average. This could save you a lot of insurance money, but it comes with a risk. The plan is such that people pay less for lower premium but would be required to pay more in cases of a severe health crisis.
According to a Kaiser Family Foundation data released in 2019, the average monthly premium on high-deductible plans pegs at $530 for an individual while that for a family is $1,550. That’s as much as 10% lower than other more traditional plans.
#5. Work with a Broker
Have you worked with an agent before? Perhaps you might have worked with an agent who helped you brokered a deal to buy a house or something. Why not try a health insurance broker?
A health insurance broker is knowledgeable in the health business, so work with one. A health insurance broker would certainly help you find insurance plans to suit you in relation to your monthly wages.
Also, most of these brokers work directly with insurance companies. All you need to do is find a broker who has an affiliation with many insurance companies and try to work out a plan that best suits you.
The fact that brokers get paid by commission by these companies definitely plays to your advantage. What this means is that the agents are inclined to find a plan for you so they can get paid.
On the other hand, they may be inclined to match you with a plan that has extra features and coverage you don’t need, because of the potential for a higher commission. You will agree this is one of the cheapest ways to get health insurance
#6. Hang on with your parents
This point applies to people who are under the age of 26. According to the Affordable Care Act of the United States, people who are under the age of 26 are qualified to be under their parent’s insurance plan. So if you fall within this age group, you might need to hang on for some while.
This point is a huge benefit for young people especially students or those who are newly entering the labor market.
The disadvantage of this option is the fact your parents would need to pay more for the premium plan. But even if they make it, you pay them back for that difference, you’ll end up paying far less than if you were to seek insurance on the open market or healthcare exchanges.
#7. Search for a Student Plan
If you are a student then count yourself lucky because most insurance plans are friendly to students. So you have recently accepted an offer to pursue a major at a college and you are settling in well at college, but do you have insurance to cover in case of a health crisis?
Do not worry because there are several health insurance plans that cover students at affordable rates. Students who are no longer qualify to be under their parent’s health insurance plans may be eligible for low-cost insurance through university, or through private companies that offer lower premiums for students. To clarify, some colleges offer health insurance and then lump in the cost with your room and board.
One such company that offers low-cost insurance plan for college students across the country is University Health Plans. You might need to read up on the company to learn more
#8. Check an HMO
In most instances, you place health insurance into two categories, namely a Preferred Provider Organization (PPO) and a Health Maintenance Organization (HMO).
There are also “Point of Service” (POS) plans, and “Exclusive Provider Organizations (EPO) that are essentially a hybrid between the two. PPO plans are more expensive but have far fewer restrictions than the other two plans.
If you choose to go with an HMO, your premiums will be low or even non-existent, and you may have smaller deductibles as well. However, HMO’s usually will only allow you to see a doctor within a specific network and will require a referral from a primary doctor to see a physician.
You can make research on these two to learn which bests suits your need
#9. Checkup Group Insurance
I have noticed insurance companies give special package to groups. Groups usually get health insurance at a subsidized rate. Are you a member of any group? You can look around and find a group with a good insurance plan to join. Groups enjoy a subsidized rate of insurance because it gives the insurance companies an avenue to have more clients.
Although most available group plans are employer-sponsored health insurance plan, you may get group insurance through collectives of freelancers, professional and trade organizations. There are a handful of groups with subsidized insurance plans, like some groups for up-and-coming actors.
Also, as an individual runs a private business, www.Healthcare.gov has some Small Business Health plans that allow you to find group plans and pricing. Visit the site to make research and learn more.
#10. Online Insurance Finder
One of the cheapest ways to get health insurance by shopping around for the best insurance options and what better way to about this than using an online health insurance finder. There so many online platforms that would help you find a befitting health insurance plan at a cost. These health insurance finders provide you with the best information about insurance companies and the different plans available.
One of such companies is https://www.ehealthinsurance.com. To get started with the platform, you would be required to enter some basic information about you. The platform then uses the details you provide to list some insurance companies and as well as some insurance plans that best suits you.
#11. Explore Short-Term Plans
There are instances where you may require a short-term insurance plan. For instance, if you lost your job so that your previous insurance plan sponsored by your employer is no longer in place and you require an insurance plan to cover you for the meantime until you get another job, then a short-term insurance policy might be good for you.
Instead of paying heavily on a monthly basis for health insurance, you might not need, you could negotiate a short-term insurance plan that could cover you for a while. Although advise people to be careful when choosing a short-term insurance plan. This is not always the best option, but there are some instances where you need the short-term plan.
Short-term policies have their detractors. For some time, they were not considered insurance under the Affordable Care Act, so it could penalize you for being uninsured.
Under the previous administration, short-term health plans could not last over 3 months. However, new policies under the current administration allowed policies to extend as long as a year—with renewals for up to 3 years.
Also, I think I should include that short-term health plans only cover a handful of health challenges. There are conditions it couldn’t cover such as maternity care, mental health as well as treatment of substance addiction.
So, I encourage people to do some asking before considering short-term plans.
Conclusion
Health insurance could be costly, especially when you stay a long time without using your insurance. But I assure you, having insurance in place to cover your health crisis is worth every penny. I hope the methods I listed above help you find some cheap health insurance plans.
Do you have any thoughts regarding this post? Please let us know through the comment section below.
Recommendations
