Low Income Health Insurance Plans – Here Are Your Best Options

So if you make a low income and you’re struggling to find a health insurance plan, don’t despair. You just need to get a plan that’s cheap and will take care of most of your needs. On this site, I talk a lot about how to craft a cheap health insurance plan so I would recommend reading those posts as well this one. If you’re ready to look at quotes…

Click Here To Look At Low Income Medical Insurance Quotes

So, what are you options?

HDHP – High deductible health plan. Basically, you’re deductible is an amount that you would need to pay on a yearly basis before any of your other, non-doctor visit, expenses are covered by your insurance company. If you make this deductible higher than say, $5000, you have a good chance of lowering your monthly bill and also grabbing some coverage for doctor visits, prescription drugs, and other costs.

Another “so-called benefit” of an HDHP is you can use an HSA (Health Savings Account). It works like a “traditional IRA” (Individual retirement account) where your contributions are tax-deductible and you can gain interest tax-free. BUT, keep in mind the caveats:

1) You can only withdraw the money penalty-free for health expenses. If you take it out for other reasons, there’s a penalty. And also, remember, you’re going to get taxed when you take the money out after your are 60 years old (and there’s no way to know what tax rates will be then or what bracket you will be in).

2) In 2010, Your deductible must be over $1200 for a single person and $2400 for a family.

3) You must find a plan that takes HSAs. This will limit your choices when buying individual health insurance.

I like HSAs for people who are thinking of saving some money and they think they may need to use some of that money on medical expenses (and could use a tax break). It’s not the best option for pure investment, nor is it the best option for those who don’t want to tie up any of their funds. **Keep in mind that some people say you can save some money on administrative costs by having an HSA debit card. I don’t know if this is true and not sure if I buy it. But you may want to look into it.

If you’re on a very low income, a “mini medical” plan might be right for you. You can get coverage for drugs, doctor visits, and some hospital stays but you will not get a lot of coverage for big emergencies. In my opinion, it’s more important to have the coverage for the emergencies, because this is when the hospital may just ignore you – as opposed to you trying to pay for a regularly scheduled doctor visit, where they will take a check and don’t generally even WANT to accept insurance.

Overall, I would say to check out my “Cheap Medical Insurance” post for how to craft the cheapest policy using the mentality of going to the doctor for emergencies. If you’re really poor, can you afford to be seeing these professionals all that much? In my opinion, the best thing to do is eat well, exercise, and take MUCH CHEAPER preventative measures to keep yourself out of the doctor’s office. Because when it comes to Western Medicine, it’s expensive and there’s just no free lunch out there. At least not yet. Until then, get the cheapest possible.

Click Here To Compare The Cheapest Plans Out There

I hope this information was helpful and you were able to find some insurance solutions that may help you and your family.