If you want only short term coverage, there are many more short term plans on this page.
There are Consumer Guides on the Entry Page, including a Glossary of health insurance terms. They are not on the quote results page. After you get quotes, use the back button or refresh if you want to see the Consumer Guides.
To generate quotes, click on the red "Continue" button at the bottom right of the page where you enter your age.
How to use the Quote Results
Simplify the results: use the vertical column immediately to the left of the quote boxes to select only plans of a certain category that you want to focus on.
"Deductible Range" produces all plans in the deductible range that you select, with or without copays, and that may or may not be HSA-qualified.
Deductible comparison is of limited use because it may not be the total amount that you have to pay before the insurance pays 100%. The total possible coinsurance needs to be added to the deductible so the total liability on your part can be compared between plans.
Under "Plan Type", "HSA" may be useful if you could use an extra tax deduction. All plans are eliminated from the list except those that entitle you to open a health savings account and get a tax deduction for any deposits made. The accumulated balance in the account can be kept or can be spent on medical, dental, chiropractic, or vision expenses, etc. See the HSA articles for more information.
"PPO" means that there is a claims network so the medical providers can file claims instead of you having to. It also reduces costs to the carrier and consequently allows the carrier to charge you less compared to plans that have no network.
"IND" (Indemnity) means plans with no network. PPO includes indemnity coverage, "non-network" or "out-of-network", which usually has a higher deductible and coinsurance to compensate for the higher cost of dealing with non-network situations.
An 'HMO' option will also appear under "Plan Type" if any are available for quoting in your area.
You can also limit the list to a "Price Range" and to only the companies that you want to appear ("Company Name").
"Top Pick": signifies the best sellers. One of them may be ideal for you. However, just because most people buy something does not mean that it is necessarily the best for everyone.
Within each Quote
"OOP" (maximum out-of-pocket): important and often misunderstood. The term is used and misused so as to have different meanings. It is stated here according to what each insurance company requires. For most plans it means the sum of the deductible and any additional percentage that you pay before the plan pays 100% of covered expenses. If the plan has any copayments, they are not included in the OOP amount.
Some carriers misuse the term OOP to mean only the coinsurance, i.e., the percentage that you pay after the deductible. This makes OOP look less than it really is. Click on "View Details" to see if the deductible is included in the 'Annual Out-Of-Pocket Limit".
If a plan has copays only, OOP has a different meaning. It means the maximum you would have to pay in a year in the form of copayments. If the copays are low, the formally stated OOP may not be realistically reachable and so should not be used in comparisons. For comparisons, it's better to estimate a reachable OOP figure based on the size of the copays and their possible frequency in case of an expensive illness.
"Rx Card": Click on "View Details" to see if 'yes' means that there are real copays or just a discount card. A discount card means that there is no insurance coverage for prescriptions, but you get a discount card which may help, but that is not insurance coverage. 'No' simply means that the plan does not cover prescriptions.
"Inpatient Hospital": If it says '$0' then the plan is paying 100% after deductible. If it says, e.g. '20%', then it is paying 80% after deductible until you have met the OOP figure because you are paying the other 20%. Then the plan pays 100%. Confirm in 'View Details' that this is the same for all other covered expenses.
"Dr. Copay": If it says '0%' then usually this means that there is no copay and you pay for all office visits 100% until the deductible is met. Only then does the plan pay for physician office visits. If it says something like 30%, then it usually means that you first pay all office visits in full until the annual deductible is met and then you pay 30% of the cost of office visits just like all other coinsurance until you have met the annual OOP maximum.
However, some plans may be more generous and the % shown is a copayment paid as a percentage of the cost of the visit and has no relation to the deductible. Check "View Details" to see if this % is a copayment or coinsurance after deductible.
If it says $35, then you pay $35 for the doctor's time at an office visit and the insurance pays the rest. Usually, such copayments are not credited to the deductible. If lab tests and x-rays are not included in the office copay benefit (usually the case for PPO), you would have to pay that cost until your deductible is met. Check "View Details".
"View Provider Network": Most doctors and hospitals join most PPO claims networks available to them. If you have a favorite doctor or hospital and cannot find them in the online network information, they may still be members under another name. Try calling the provider's office to see what they say. Be sure to ask about the network name, not the insurance company name if the carrier does not have its own network, but uses an independent claims network. Providers join the PPO network, not the insurance company.
For any plan anywhere, claims paid are only those expenses covered by the plan up to the maximum lifetime or benefit specified.
You can call us at any time for further assistance.