Chapter 1: How to Get a Good Deal
Do you like to get the most for your money? Have you thought about whether you are
getting the best deal on health insurance? I had not when at my last employer because
health insurance was paid for entirely by the employer. But when I left and paid to continue
my insurance, I fi gured that I was probably getting a good deal: I was part of a group policy
with lots of coverage that I thought would cost less than buying my own insurance.
Boy, was I wrong! It took a lot of time to gather all the information in this book, and I made
mistakes along the way, but in the end I’ve selected a quality insurer, found a policy that
works for my family, and I’m paying a whole lot less each month.
My monthly payment for benefi ts from my previous employer was $1,166 a month and included
dental and vision. My payment after using the comparison method presented in this book is $296 a
month. It started at $318 a month when I began the book,
but I made changes as I learned more. I chose to skip the dental and vision coverage. That’s a savings of $870 a month, or $10,440 a year. I feel good about the coverage that I’m getting, along with the other choices I’ve made in terms of benefi t levels. I can honestly say that I sleep well
at night with the coverage we’ve got.
Reading about health insurance is not at the top of my list of fun things to do, and reading
the source materials on the topic has helped me to fall asleep on many occasions. In this
book I’ll try to keep it light and interesting, hitting the important points. The appendices and
the website www.BestHealthInsuranceBook.com list additional resources for those who
wish to go deeper.
I did not set out to write a book about health insurance. I was working on a different book which included a chapter about how to get your own health insurance. Once I dug in and started my research, I found that there was much more material than could fi t in one chapter. While some of the material can be found elsewhere, there is some very unique information that can only be found here: which includes a technique to compare all health plans “apples to apples,” how to avoid being ripped-off, and a simple yet comprehensive way to view all of the health plan information.
