Are you trying to decide between going with individual health insurance coverage and an available group option through your employer?
Many people are surprised to learn that individual health insurance is almost always less expensive than group health insurance. There are several good reasons for this, but two stick out. First, there are fewer government mandates on individual health insurance when compared with group insurance. For example, groups are mandated to offer maternity coverage whether the employer wants it or not. (I can’t resist the urge to note that when government gets involved in insurance, the prices inevitably go up. Take from this what you will regarding current political discussions!).
The second reason, which is more germane to our discussion here, is that individual insurance is individually underwritten. That means that the insurance company can decline coverage to someone deemed to be too great of a risk (based on medical history, height/weight ratios, etc.). It also means they can opt to insure an individual but exclude certain pre-existing conditions (such as, say, asthma or acne or whatnot).
What’s the bottom line? If you’re healthy, you’re probably better off getting a good individual health insurance policy that will provide a similar level of benefits as most group plans at a better price. Once you have a good policy in place, you won’t get kicked out if you develop or are diagnosed with a problematic condition. But if your medical history makes getting that kind of coverage problematic, and a group option is available, you ought to go with it.
Contact AC Forrest to get quotes on individual health insurance in South Carolina, Georgia, and other Southeastern states. You can also run no-obligation quotes on select plans in our online quote engine.