Individual health insurance is typically something that the majority of Americans with big corporate jobs do not have a lot of familiarity with. Many individual health insurance shoppers are unsure of what to look for in an individual health insurance plan and what criteria should be used to evaluate the different health insurance companies as in the past their employer had done all of the leg work.

Maybe you are self employed, or between jobs, or a student no longer covered under your parent’s plan, or maybe you have always had individual health and you have never really been that knowledgeable about how health insurance for individuals works. Browse the different material on both individual health insurance and group health insurance and put in the research necessary to make sure that you and your family has the most affordable and comprehensive plan available.

Take a few moments and compare the different individual health plans that are available in your home zip by requesting free health insurance quotes now!

Individual Health Insurance Options

With the rise in businesses requiring their employees to obtain their own individual health insurance, people are becoming more inquisitive about their options.  While many people are still part of group plans through jobs, individual health insurance is often necessary or desirable for several reasons. You may between jobs, or prefer to look for lower costs by staying out of the group health pool that includes everyone and often involves higher costs. Individual health insurance gives that option.

In the new millennium, small and medium sized businesses make up the majority of companies here in the U.S.  In addition to the change in the face of businesses, baby boomers are retiring.  The need for individual health insurance options is on the rise. 

More Individual Health Insurance Options Available

So many people in this country are without health insurance that it has become a national healthcare crisis and a burning issue.  So much so that many Presidential candidates are using it as their platform in their Presidential campaign’s. 

The market is rising to meet this need by offering new concepts like consumer directed health plans, Health Savings Accounts (HSA's), and medical reimbursements plans.

There was a time when most people just needed temporary type of insurance to carry them to their next job like COBRA (Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act) of 1985, which protected individuals and their families, if needed, in the event of termination.  Individuals are covered for up to 36 months with the option of converting to a COBRA plan which is usually more expensive than the group plan, due to having to pay the employer’s share of the policy.  Now people can get individual health insurance through several options like:

     • COBRA – (through previous employer)      • AARP – (now offers individual options)      • Traditional Private Individual Health Insurance – (regulated by each state)      • Guaranteed Issue – (for the uninsurable, i.e. HIPAA plans, State Risk Pool)      • Discount Plans – (prescription, dental, vision, medical)     

Although AARP (American Association of Retired People) have always offered supplemental insurance to individuals like Major Medical and Universal Health Care Products, they now offer Individual health insurance options also (typically underwritten through a large private insurance company like United Healthcare or Aetna). 

Traditional Private Individual Health Insurance

America’s Health Insurance Plan (AHIP) is an organization, who represents approximately 1,300 private health insurers, which proposed to congress a vision that insures more than 40 million uninsured individuals in America.  Some of the top private individual health insurance companies and carriers that AHIP keeps records of include:

This is just to name a few.  There are countless others, and even more discount plans.  New individual health insurance companies are opening their doors nearly everyday.

People with options are opting individual plans over group plans because the cost of group health insurance in most states will average about twice as much as the cost of an individual health insurance plan with similar benefits (often even from the same insurance company).

The reason that individual health insurance is so much cheaper than group health insurance is because insurers are not obligated to accept everyone that applies onto their individual health insurance plan as they are with a group health insurance plan. Typically about 80% - 90% of people who apply for an individual health insurance plan are approved (although if one is eligible for a HIPAA health insurance plan then one is guaranteed to be accepted on to the plan).

Individual Health Insurance Plans Opted Over Group Plans

Even small business owners with a handful of employees are purchasing individual policies for their employees and their families. The problem comes in with subscribers with pre-existing conditions and high risk factors like terminal illnesses.  Then it becomes a liability for the employer.   Most private individual health insurance carriers will accept anyone into their program for a premium; however, there are some cases where the candidate is just not insurable by traditional means. 

Guaranteed Issue Individual Health Insurance

For those individuals with pre-existing conditions or conditions that prohibit them from obtaining private individual health insurance on the open market, they are assisted by state mandates issued in some states requiring carriers to offer products for this group of uninsured individuals. 

These subscribers are placed into a high risk pool.  The premiums cost more, but they can not be turned down.  Those states that do not participate in guaranteed issue individual health insurance offer other options for people with medical issues that require a more complex plan. 

Another option for those who do not live in a State that offers a high risk pool is a HIPAA health insurance plan. HIPAA plans are designed to give guaranteed issue individual health insurance coverage to those who are responsible and have maintained continuous coverage but for reasons outside of their control were unable to continue their health insurance coverage.

Information On Finding Individual Health Insurance

Information on individual health insurance is all over the Internet.  The paradigm of individual health insurance is shifting with the times.  There are several sites, which will educate those interested on how to sort through the numerous options.  Some of the best sites offering health insurance information include:

1. National Association of Health Underwriters (NAHU) – NAHU is committed to educating the public about insurance options.  Its members include industry professionals.  Its clients include large corporations.  The consumer is you. They even offer a database of carriers to choose from.

2. Insurance Information Institute (III) – III is a great resource for finding answers to tricky health insurance questions.

3. Health Insurance 360 – We strive to offer you a wealth of money saving health insurance information as well as free comparison quotes from competing insurance companies. Visit our site map to find information rich articles and reviews or use our quick and easy quote finder at the top of the page to comparison shop health and life insurance rate quotes.

Compare Individual Health Insurance Quotes Now!

To get free individual health insurance quotes, just click on the quote tool at the top of the page and compare rates from multiple insurance companies!