How to Pick a Health Insurance Provider: Everything You Need to Know

By Cristiana , in General , at January 15, 2023

The Affordable Care Act put a huge dent in the number of uninsured people in the US, but it didn’t eliminate the uninsured entirely. In fact, there are still approximately 30 million Americans with health insurance coverage.

Of course, not all of those people will remain uninsured forever. Some of them will get promotions or move into jobs that let them cover the costs of a health insurance policy.

The question you’ll face at that point is how to pick a health insurance provider. If you’ve never picked an insurance provider before, keep reading for some key tips.

Table of Contents

Consider Your Needs

Knowing your needs will often help you sort through your options for insurance providers. For example, let’s say that you’re changing jobs and your insurance will lapse for a few weeks during the in-between time.

In that case, you’ll shop for short term insurance with a provider that specializes in those kinds of policies. If you’re looking for a full-time provider, you’ll shop with a company that offers annual policies.

Cost

You should also spend some time comparing insurance costs between policies and between companies. While comparable policies are often close in cost between different companies, that isn’t always the case.

Investigating the options lets you make an informed and financially responsible decision about your health coverage.

Terms and Conditions

Before you sign up for a policy or with a specific provider, you should also take a close look at their insurance terms and conditions. Many policyholders get a nasty surprise when they find out that the insurance company buried a host of limitations in the fine print.

You should specifically look for coverage exclusions under the policy. For example, policies that include prescription drug coverage will often exclude certain medications from their coverage.

Ask Around

If it’s your first time getting coverage, you should ask what your friends and family think about their coverage. If they talk about how terrible it is, make a note of the company’s name for when you’re investigating. If they talk about how good the coverage or company is, add them to the list of companies you should definitely research.

Read Online Reviews

You can also get some insight into other customers’ experiences with different insurance companies by reading online reviews. Just make sure that you take those reviews with a grain of salt. Insurance problems can leave reviewers feeling particularly bitter about a company.