Individual health insurance can be extremely expensive, particularly if you have any pre-existing conditions or are purchasing coverage for your entire family. With record numbers of unemployment and underemployment, many people are simply no longer able to afford health coverage any longer. If you are among them, you should know you have options.

Medicaid is a means-tested, government-funded health insurance program that currently provides coverage to more than 60 million people across the country. In California, this individual and family health insurance program is called Medi-Cal.

In order to qualify for Medicaid, families must earn up to 133 percent of the federal poverty level, which was $29,700 for a family of four in 2011. States may expand coverage at their discretion to those earning above this level.

If you are like most Americans, you are looking for ways to reduce your costs for health care. One way you can do so is by taking advantage of the non-smoker discount. According to the CDC, tobacco is responsible for more deaths than motor vehicle crashes, suicides, murders, and even illegal drug use. It increases an individual’s risks for heart disease, cancer, aneurysm, and emphysema and chronic bronchitis. The health costs associated with these conditions can be astronomical, leading personal health insurance companies to offer discounts to non-smokers.

When a married couple or domestic partners have health coverage through work, they can maximize their benefits by signing their child or children up for both plans. However, one plan will generally be designated as primary coverage and cover health expenses up to that plan’s limits. The second parent’s plan will be considered secondary coverage and cover the remaining portion of the bill to its limits.

Numerous studies have linked oral health to physical health. Dental health coverage can help defray some of the costs associated with maintaining your oral health. You have two options when it comes to dental coverage: dental insurance and dental discount plans. What is the difference between the two?

More people are seeking ways to reduce the expenses associated with their personal health insurance. The low premiums of high-deductible health plans can be very attractive for this very reason. Unfortunately, while high-deductible health plans, or HDHPs, can be a great option for some people, they are not appropriate for everyone or every family.

If you have been shopping for the right health insurance plan for yourself or your family, you may be astounded by all the options available today. Group health insurance, HMOs, PPOs, POS plans, indemnity health plans, and high-deductible plans all offer their subscribers something different. While each has pros and cons, a high-deductible-health plan is often attractive to those who are lower income, self-employed, or who for other reasons prefer the generally low monthly premiums of a high-deductible plan.

COBRA is an acronym that means Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act. It refers to a provision in the 1985 law that provides for the continuation of health coverage benefits after an individual has become unemployed.

Businesses that are seeking to provide health insurance for their employees are increasingly trying to control their costs while improving flexibility. One way they may be able to do so is through self-funded employee health insurance plans. A self-funded plan is one in which the business or employer itself funds, manages, and administers the health benefits of the plan. A self-funded plan is governed by federal rather than state law.

According to a recent UCLA Center for Health Policy Research survey, more than eight million Californians, or nearly one out of four, is uninsured. Thanks to high levels of unemployment and the recession, many may have had to choose between paying for basic needs and paying for health insurance. Unfortunately, living without health coverage can leave you and your family even more financially vulnerable in the instance of a health catastrophe. That’s where catastrophic health insurance can help.

Regular health care is crucial to your child’s health. Well-child doctor’s visits may include checkups to look for signs of illness and immunizations to prevent communicable diseases. Your child’s physical, behavioral, and cognitive development will be assessed to ensure it is on track. Your child’s primary care physician may also include nutrition or safety counseling as well.

Women who are planning to have children will need to check the terms of their health insurance plan to ensure maternity benefits are covered. In most cases, maternity benefits must be included as an extra benefit or rider since they rarely are a standard feature of a basic insurance plan.

As the saying goes, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” When it comes to your health, this saying may be doubly true.

Expenses associated with cardiovascular disease alone are expected to rise to $800 billion a year by 2030, according to the American Heart Association. Early treatment of the risk factors associated with cardiovascular disease, including high blood pressure, can reduce the costs associated with this condition.

When your kids head off to college, health insurance may be the last thing on their minds. It is probably not the last thing on yours, however. You may be wondering whether your family health insurance policy will continue to cover them or whether you will need to purchase a new policy. Could student health insurance be the best choice for your kids?

If you are searching for an affordable alternative to traditional health insurance in California, you may be interested in short-term health insurance. Short term-health insurance provides basic health coverage for a comparatively low dollar amount, often a mere fraction of what you might pay for traditional health insurance. Short-term policies can prevent a lapse in coverage or provide an extra level of coverage for those with limited benefits under an employee health insurance plan.

Employers who sponsor health coverage for their employees and their employees’ dependents will realize many associated benefits. Appealing benefits packages can attract and keep top employees, and employee health insurance can play a prominent role in the benefits you offer. Many Americans today are covered by group health insurance. A group plan allows employers to split the costs of their premiums with their employees while granting benefits to the employer as well.

Managed care plans are some of the most affordable health insurance options available in California today. Most people will choose between one of two types of managed care plans: HMO health insurance and PPO health insurance.

Group health insurance can be an attractive benefit for your employees, but it can be a benefit for your business as well. Unlike individual health insurance plans, group health insurance premiums plans are tax deductible under some circumstances. They also tend to be less expensive than individual plans since the risk is spread out over a larger pool of participants.

Prescription medications may be an expensive part of your health care, particularly if you take more than one. You may be able to save substantially if you are able to use generic medications instead of name brands. Many health insurance providers provide coverage at a greater level for generic drugs than for name brand drugs, allowing you to save even more.

The cost of your health insurance policy is based on many factors. When you have a group health insurance policy through your employer or other group, your insurer bases the price of the policy on the risk factors of the entire group being insured. Coverage may also be broad and include benefits you don’t need, such as maternity and prescription drugs.

Family health insurance provides preventative health care for the entire family. You and your family can take advantage of regular visits with primary care physicians or specialists, lab work and X-rays, and you may even have prescription drug coverage through your health insurance. You may be wondering, though, can your children over 18 be insured on your family policy?

Being self-employed has many benefits. You are your own boss, create your own schedule, and are paid for doing what you love most. Unfortunately, when you work for yourself you do not have the same types of tangible benefits you would when working for an employer, such as employee health insurance. You may be wondering, then, how can you get affordable family health insurance if you are self-employed?

You have a lot of options when it comes to shopping for health insurance. One of the most popular choices in California today is the managed care plan. Managed care plans take a unique approach to health care by contracting with health care providers and standardizing a certain level of care in order to control their costs as well as their members’ costs.

HMO and PPO health insurance managed care plans have created health plan networks in an effort to combat the rising costs of health insurance. By sticking within a specified group of health care providers or facilities, you will generally enjoy reduced out-of-pocket expenses, copayments, and other associated costs.

An HSA, or health savings account, is a special savings account that can help you save pre-tax dollars to pay for certain qualified medical expenses associated with your individual or family health insurance plan. Your employer can even contribute funds to your group health insurance HSA, providing a valuable source of funds beyond your own contributions and any interest your HSA account earns.

The rising costs associated with health care seem to be on everyone’s minds lately. If you’ve been finding it increasingly difficult to meet the expenses associated with your health insurance plan, you may benefit from learning more about HSAs. An HSA may be able to help you afford many of the out-of-pocket expenses associated with your qualified health insurance plan.

Are you shopping for individual health insurance? You may notice a number of new or unfamiliar terms, such as copayments, co-insurance, and premiums. Understanding each of these terms can ensure you get the policy that’s right for you while helping you avoid unpleasant billing surprises.

Although the majority of Californians choose group health insurance such as PPO or HMO health insurance plans, these may not necessarily be the right choices for everyone. Thankfully, there’s another option: the indemnity plan. Indemnity plans provide their subscribers with more freedom than other types of individual health insurance plans.

When you are self-employed, choosing the right health insurance plan to meet your needs can seem quite complicated. Because personal health insurance policies may be pricier than group policies, self-employed people may be hesitant to sign on to them. However, insurance companies are increasingly offering self-employed health insurance policies focusing on managed care or affordable insurance plans.

With any family health insurance or individual health insurance plan you choose, you’ll have certain out-of-pocket costs along with your monthly premium. These expenses may include your annual deductible, copayments, and co-insurance. Although the latter two may sound similar, they are, in fact, two quite different things.

The answer to that questions is no. According to careaboutyourcare.org, Americans spend more on health care per person than the people in any other country around the world. Because of that, we assume that we are getting the best health care available. However, the care we receive is low in quality and high in cost, compared to other countries.

If you have been shopping for low cost health insurance plans, you should know you have a variety of managed care options. Group plans like those offered through business health insurance programs are often the best choices for many people, providing a variety of coverage levels at reasonable prices. PPOs and HMOs are two of the most common forms of managed care plans, but there’s also a third option: the POS plan.

Falls are a leading cause of injury in older adults. Each year 1 in 3 adults over the age of 65 fall, and about 2 million are treated for injuries caused by falls. Traumatic brain injuries and hip fractures, both of which can be caused by falls, can be a serious threat to senior’s health and independence.

Your health insurance policy can play a valuable role when it comes to protecting your physical and financial health. Every group health insurance or individual health insurance plan provides different levels of coverage, and not all insurance policies cover prescription medications. If yours doesn’t, you may consider purchasing prescription insurance.

You’ll have many decisions as you shop for health insurance. One of them is deciding between a group health insurance policy and an individual health insurance policy. Are they really that different? What are the major differences between the two types of policies?

The average US household has enough life insurance to replace just about 3.5 years of their income. On the other hand, college costs have an inflation rate of 5.6% per year. This has put the financials of many families in a vulnerable position. A proper college funding strategy can help many of these families meet their financial needs and protect what matters to them most.

If your employee health insurance or family health insurance also offers coverage for children, you may be wondering why you need children health insurance. Health insurance for children can be a valuable investment in their current and future health and even their academic success.

Health insurance plans all come with certain out of pocket expenses such as deductibles, copays, and coinsurance. Copays and coinsurance are often confused, but they are two quite different parts of a health insurance policy. The copay is a specific amount you are required to pay for a specific service, such as a doctor's appointment, while coinsurance is the percentage of the cost of your health care that you and your health insurer agree to share.

When you shop for health insurance plans, you may encounter many unfamiliar terms or new concepts. One of these may be the idea of a deductible. A deductible is one of the out-of-pocket costs commonly associated with individual or group health insurance plans.

The deductible is a fixed cost that must be paid before most or any of your health insurance policy’s benefits will begin. Some services may be exempted from the deductible, such as regular doctor’s checkups and necessary emergency care. It’s important that you check the details of each plan to determine what may be covered even if you have not fulfilled the requirements of your deductible.

Californians have traditionally led the country when it comes to HMO enrollment, but more and more have been switching to PPO health insurance. As of 2007, nearly 30 percent of those insured in California had chosen PPO plans. PPO insurance is a type of managed care plan that helps you better control your costs while providing you with more choice and control over your health care.

A PPO is a preferred provider organization. When you enroll in a PPO plan, you will have access to a network of health care providers and hospitals who will act as your preferred providers. Your PPO plan will provide you with certain benefits to seek care within this network of preferred providers. Seeking care outside the network will cost more. Although the care is still covered, it will be covered at a lower percentage than it is when you seek care in network.

An HMO is an affordable health insurance plan designed to keep your costs down. HMOs, or health maintenance organizations, are one of the most popular health insurance options available today, with about half of all Californians belonging to them.

HMO health insurance providers contract with doctors, hospitals, and other health care providers in order to control expenses. They will pay a specific amount per patient or service, and to maximize benefits, HMO members must receive treatments and care from network providers. You benefit from having more predictable expenses that may include monthly premiums and set office copayments.