Cheaper Alternatives to Health Insurance

Health insurance can be expensive, so if you don’t qualify through a job or your parents, you may opt to not have it. You can do a quick check of health insurance prices in your area here.

This is an example of a full priced plan without any government subsidies for a non tobacco user aged 23 male in Broward County, FL:

By the way, this plan is very costly (to me) given the high deductible and premium.

• Alternative to health insurance while you are young and single or looking to save money because the USA can have very expensive health insurance: 

  • Ideal plan: save $100/month and have that invested/saved instead of paying a health insurance premium to cover emergency health needs

  • Use services like GoodRx (free service for low cost prescriptions)

    • Save even more with Gold GoodRx ($5.99/month or $9.99 for family of 6-even pets). Sometimes, it is even cheaper than your copay (so those with health insurance may want to compare as well here).

    • With GoodRx Care, you can see a licensed healthcare provider for advice, diagnosis, and treatment of routine health conditions online. $19 with a Gold Membership, and $49 per visit for non-members (visits that include lab tests cost a bit more).

    • Other options here such as 

      • K Health: Pay $23 for one visit or $12 a month for unlimited visits.

  • Many local health departments give low cost vaccines and STD testing to children and adults. 

  • Other health resources here

  • For low income individuals or those disabled, Medicaid or Obamacare is always an option, especially for children. —> Many people could qualify for cheaper insurance through government subsidies which I will cover in my next blog.

  • List of low cost clinics here: https://www.freeclinics.com/ such as UMC Free Clinic (serving Broward County, FL, Miami-Dade County, FL and Palm Beach County, FL).

  • Shop around for the cost of X-rays, testing, … 

    • One comparison site for in FL: https://price.mhs.net/ 

  • Ask for a cash discount (paying in cash might lower cost of service)

  • Google “hospital accident insurance plan” which will cover a certain amount of physical injury (not sickness)

    • Here are some examples, but be sure to do your own comparison shopping.

      • https://www.aiginsurance.com/content/ah-direct/aig-ah/us/en/our-products/accident-sickness.html

      • https://www.floridamic.org/hospital-accident-plan

      • Example from my credit union that costs me $17.65 per month:

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