what is the best health insurance policy for a self employed person with family in austin texas?

Question

I am self employed, recently moved to the USA and have a wife, a 21 month old daughter and soon a son. i am looking for something reasonably priced with reasonable coverage

many thanks

Answer 1

Ultimately, you are the one who determines what is the best insurance because you decide what the right balance is between affordability and policy benefits.

If you choose a plan that covers everything i.e. doctors office visits, prescription drugs, preventative health benefits, maternity coverage, low deductibles, low co-pays as well as vision and dental benefits your monthly premiums will be significant.

On the other hand if you and your family are healthy and use the health care system sparingly you could consider a plan that covers only the major health catastrophe. If that is too scary consider a plan with a higher in hospital deductible, higher co-pays for doctor's office visits and perhaps not cover prescription drugs.. Either of these approaches will result in a lower monthly premium. You then can use the monthly premium savings to pay for the occasional doctor visit or prescription and still come out ahead.

Based on what you are asking I would suggest that you need a trusted adviser to help you through the process of purchasing health insurance so that you understand what you are purchasing. Check with the agent that writes your home or auto insurance he/she can provide you a health insurance proposal that takes into account your budget and health status. He or she can answer questions as to what is and is not covered by the policy, explain deductibles and co-pays and show you the hospitals and doctors that participate in the network.

Some are going to suggest you go to their site so that they earn a few pennies on a "click through". Some are going to suggest going on line to get a quote but you probably already know that there is much more to health insurance than price.  Some might even suggest a discount plan as the "best and cheapest" approach but that is not insurance at all.

Do yourself a favor, use the Internet to research health insurance but use an agent to purchase the coverage.