Five Ways to Lower Your Health Insurance Costs and Save Money

July 7, 2010 — -- Congress passed a new health care law this year, but the main provisions don't go into effect until 2014. So how can you cut the cost of your health insurance in the meantime?

CLICK HERE for the web extra tips on how to save money on health insurance when your kid goes to college.

Raise Your Deductible

What's the first thing we do when we want to save on car or homeowners' insurance? We raise the deductible and you can do the same with health insurance. The deductible is the amount you have to pay out of pocket for your care before the insurance kicks in.

If you choose a higher deductible, the insurance company rewards you with a lower premium. For example, if a healthy, 41-year-old woman raises her deductible from $500 to $1,500, she will save $1,428 per year. She could set the $1,428 aside and use it to cover the $1,000 difference, and still have money left over.

You should only raise your deductible to a level that won't ruin you if you have to pay it.

To get a feel for how raising your deductible will lower your premium, try shopping online. Click HERE to get a quote. Just keep in mind that you have to submit a formal application and be approved before the rates are finalized.

The federal government also now offers a helpful health insurance shopping portal and it is expected to become even more helpful as they develop it further.

Click HERE to learn more.

Open a Health Savings Account

Not many people seem to know about health savings accounts, which you can get when you open a high deductible health plan. They are more lucrative and less hassle than flexible spending accounts. A health savings account, or HSA, is a tax-free account you can use to pay for health care costs. But unlike a flexible spending account, you don't have to guess how much money you will spend on health care and then forfeit the money if you guessed wrong. Instead, HSAs roll over from year to year, you can take them with you when you change employers and you can cash in your HSA for any use after age 65, so if you are fortunate health-wise, you can spend the money on something else someday.

To learn more about Health Savings Accounts and high deductible health plans and how they work, the Treasury Department has a detailed site. Treasury? Yup, since Treasury is in charge of the IRS and since these are tax-free accounts. Click HERE to learn more.