Do you want health "insurance," or "health care financing?"

"Insurance" helps you pay for unforeseen expenses that you can't handle yourself (like, say, that $87,000 hospital/surgical bill after the car wreck, etc.). "Health care financing," like anything else you usually finance, lets you "make payments" to buy things that you don't want to pay for all at once (like, say, that $2300 big screen HDTV).

Here's a few tips:
1. Buy a plan with a big deductible ($2,500 – 5,000) to keep your cost down. REMEMBER: even with a big deductible you can still find plans with the things you like: doctor and drug copays.
2. Stick with the "brand name" companies, like Blue Cross, Humana, Aetna, etc. There are a lot of other plans that "look good" but, if or when you have that big claim, they'll vanish like an honest politician.
3. Talk to a broker who specializes. Visit NAHU.org (see below) to find one near you. NAHU is the professional association of brokers like me who specialize in health insurance.
4. Get you own quotes online. Visit my site (below) or go to Norvax.com to get prices.

Hope this helps a bit!

Be very wary of medical discount cards. They are not regulated by the Department of Insurance nor do the people that sell them need to be licensed. This means you have little recourse when you have problems with the plan. If you are tempted by the low price and claims of “save up to 80%” be aware that very few doctors actually take these cards. It does you little good if you have to drive 4 hours to find a doctor that will accept the card. One state couldn’t find any doctors in that state that took the card and only one dentist who was on probation for unlawful activities so they banned the sale of the card. See this link http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/west/2006/11/22/74554.htm for more information. Many other states are starting to ban these cards.

Before signing up with any discount plan get a list of doctors. If they won’t give you a list consider it to be a scam. Call the doctors on the list to make sure they’re still taking the card (many don’t even know that they’re listed as a provider) and that they’re accepting new patients.