More Health Insurance Tips
Health insurance plans with the most comprehensive coverage at the lowest out-of-pocket cost, require you to use a specified network of hospitals, doctors, labs, and other providers. The more flexibility you demand, the more you'll pay, in either premiums or co-payments.
Check out the health insurance networks before signing up. A growing number of public and private sources compile information on the track records of individual doctors, hospitals, and health plans.
State and federal regulations protect you from losing your health insurance coverage in the event you lose your job. Unfortunately, they offer little protection from high premium costs. However, jobless workers may get help paying for these premiums as part of the economic stimulus bill.
If you and your spouse both get health insurance at work, you must sort out whether it makes more sense to have two policies or for one of you to cover the other. If you have kids, you need to decide who's going to cover them.
Ordinarily medical expenses, including health insurance premiums, are not tax deductible until they exceed 7.5% of your income. However, if you're self-employed or your employer offers a flexible spending account, you can get a tax break without meeting the threshold.