If you are self employed, own a small business, or don’t get health care insurance through your job for any reason, you probably need to shop for your own individual or family health care insurance plan. Since you are not a health care insurance professional this job can be very frustrating and confusing. Before, you just selected the health insurance plan that your employer had set up for you, but now you have dozens of options.

You may also be shocked by the price if you have just left a group health plan. That isn’t because individual health care insurance expenses  more. Actually, because the health care insurance business can choose who they will cover in numerous cases, and adjust premiums in other cases, individual plans may price much less.

It’s just that companies normally pay a substantial portion of the premium for their employees and ther families. When you buy an individual or family medical plan, you are seeing the entire bill. Many employees are really not aware of how much of the bill their employer covers. Keep in mind that most individuals who don’t get coverage through an employer can deduct some, or all, of their premiums. So if a family health insurance plan expenses  $450 a month, and a family is in a 30 percent tax bracket, the real price will only be $315.

Some families may need to adjust their expectations and change the way they think about health insurance when they switch from a group plan to an individual or family plan. They need to think about this coverage more like they think about other forms of insurance. For instance, car insurance doesn’t cover gasoline or every oil change! If the premium is too high, maybe a health care insurance plan doesn’t need to cover every doctor’s office visit and minor prescriptions.

In fact, insurance plans that don’t provide a doctor’s office visit may be 25 percent lower, and that can shave off hundreds of dollars a year from premiums. That money can pay for quite a few doctor’s office visits, plus leave some money left over to save. Changing from a $1,000 deductible to a $5,000 will probably save even more. Again, it would be better to pay less ever month and work towards providing an emergency savings plan.

Many families look at health savings accounts that work with certain higher deductible medical plans. These accounts earn interest, are tax deductible, within limits, and can be used for numerous different medical expenses. In fact, the money can pay for numerous expenses  that aren’t covered by most insurance plans like dental care, health supplements, and vision care. Plus, you never loose the money because unspent money stays in the account. Then, at retirement age (Medicare Age), the money can be withdrawn with no tax penalty.

Most families can find low cost coverage, but it may not be the type of coverage they enjoyed at work. It’s critical to look at all the available insurance plans in your area, compare them, and find health care insurance that fits into your needs and budget!