health insurance california hmo

What health insurance plan should I buy?

Hi I'm currently looking for a health insurance. I live in southern California. I'm a 27 year old female, 30 lbs overweight, no known medical condition, looking for something to cover mainly major or serious medical problems.

Kaiser is going to limit you care to their doctors and when you are out of the area, on vacation for example you can only get emergency care. You will have a primary care provider which acts as a gatekeeper and you need to see them before you can see a specialist.

With Blue Cross they offer an PPO which is a network of doctors you can choose from and you can go straight to a specialist if you feel you need one.
Some people hate the HMO gatekeeper others don't mind at all it is really personal preference.

You need to figure the cost of the plan two ways. First what will the plan cost if you have no medical bills for the year. What is your total premium for one year?

Then what will the plan cost if you have a serious illness or bad accident. I usually figure $50,000 in medical bills for this scenario. For this you need to add the total premium + deductibles + coinsurance.

Now you can compare the plans to see which one is truly the best deal, you will usually find the high deductible plans work best in either scenario. Then consider a Health Savings Account qualified plan, this can create additional tax savings.

Or you can just call a qualified broker who has probably already done this work.

With all the different health carriers and plans available most people really should use a health insurance broker. A Broker represents multiple carriers and can help you sort through all the different insurance companies and plan options in your state.

For example a typical broker can have access to 10 major carriers and 60 different plans just for one state.
You can try doing your own research on the internet, but if you give a good broker 5 minutes they will be able to make suggestions on which carrier may fit you best.

I suggest using yellowpages.com to search for health insurance brokers in your area.

Don't call your auto and home agent they specialize in property and causality insurance. You need someone that specializes in health insurance.

Good Luck