Individual Insurance

Many people don’t know that there is a wealth of private options available for both individual health insurance and family health insurance.  As employers have minimized or eliminated health insurance as a benefit, other forms of group health coverage for both individuals and families have emerged.

In many towns and cities, the local chamber of commerce has launched a health insurance cooperative.  They have signed up individual and family members, and then taken the number of willing participants to a health insurance company and purchased health insurance for all participants at a group rate.  Other co-ops have been formed by small business owners and by large organizations such as AARP.

However you don’t need to join a group in order to obtain either individual health insurance or family health insurance.  Health insurance companies today offer a number of health plans structured so that they are affordable for families.  These plans may have a high deductible, so that you pay most of the charges for routine medical care and the insurance is there for major health problems or injuries.

Other plans offer a Health Savings Account (HSA) for the individual or family.   This type of plan gives the insured family or individual more control over how the money for health care is spent.  Check with any health insurance company and they will welcome the opportunity to explain the individual and family health plans that they offer.