Individual Medical Insurance Coverage

By Howard Kaufman



If you've been recently laid off from work and your COBRA benefits have expired or are near expiring, or if you are self-employed, then your only recourse to obtain health insurance would be to purchase your own individual medical insurance coverage.

Though buying your own individual medical insurance coverage is generally more expensive than employer-sponsored healthcare (because your employer is subsidizing a significant percentage of your actual healthcare costs), there is some good news for individuals who are shopping around for the best deals:

You have a far greater degree of flexibility in terms of the type of plans you can choose from, since you are free to subscribe to and drop a health insurance provider any time you want to. You are never locked into one specific plan like you would be if you were obtaining coverage through an employer.

* You can choose your health insurance provider.
* You can choose from a wide array of deductible options.
* You can choose from a wide array of monthly premiums.
* You can choose plans that include or exclude the coverage and features that you want, such as prescription coverage, maternity coverage, flexible spending accounts, coinsurance and copay amounts.

Another piece of good news is that, even though you don't pay for your individual medical insurance coverage premiums with pretax dollars the way you would under an employer-sponsored plan, you get to take a tax deduction for qualified medical expenses that are in in excess of 7.5% (as of this writing) of your adjusted gross income.

Not sure which health plan is right for you? Compare health plans now and get a free insurance quote.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Howard_Kaufman