A Brief History of
U.S. Health Insurance
Individual/Family
Health Benefits — The New Way
In contrast to employer-sponsored health benefits, approximately 16 million Americans (5%) currently have individual or family plans that they purchased directly from a major insurance carrier in their state.
Today, individual or family health insurance plans today cost about half the price of employer-sponsored plans for similar coverage.
This is because, thanks to recent legislation, in 46 states* insurance carriers now offer substantial discounts on individual/family policies to the 80-90% of applicants who are basically healthy and/or have a wellness-oriented lifestyle.
$$$ TIP:
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Even if you receive free health insurance from your employer, you are probably paying to include your spouse and/or children in your employer's plan.
You could save 50% or more by moving your dependents to their own permanent individual or family policy.
Your employer does not want you to know this because they need your family's premiums to pay for other, less-healthy employees.
Once you have an individual or family policy, your premium generally cannot be increased, nor can your policy be cancelled, because of a new illness. In most cases, your monthly premium can be increased only with your age and with general medical inflation.
You can purchase an individual/family health insurance policy directly from a carrier in your state, online, or through a licensed health insurance agent. (NOTE: You cannot be charged more for using an agent. If you use an agent, choose one who represents at least several major carriers in your state, including at least one BlueCross BlueShield plan.)
Moreover, since 2005, individual/family policies now carry similar tax advantages to employer-sponsored plans:
- Employers are allowed to reimburse employees tax-free for the premiums on their own individual/family policies; and
- Self-employed people are allowed a 100% tax deduction for the premiums on individual/family policies.
*NY, NJ, VT, MA and ME currently prohibit health insurance carriers from offering discounts to healthy applicants.