As a Tampa resident you can save hundreds or even thousands on Florida health insurance if you follow a few simple tips. Follow these quick and easy tips and then use our free insurance quote finder at the top of the page to compare the top health insurance companies offering coverage in your home zip code!
1. Try a Florida Health Savings Account - Health Savings Accounts (HSA’s) can offer you tax deductions for medical expenses. And by having your own family HSA in reserve you won't need to buy as expensive a health insurance plan because you can afford to pay small costs out of your HSA. This means that you can enjoy lower premiums each month.
The way an HSA works is that you put a certain amount of money into an account for future medical expenses (up to IRS limits). You then receive an above the line tax deduction for contributions to the HSA and the money in the account grows tax free. You can then save a larger amount of money for health care costs. And the nice part is that if you have any unused money, you can carry it over into the next year. This allows you to save for large medical expenses.
One potential drawback of HSA’s are that they force people to be disciplined with their money: you have to set aside money for a savings plan and be a good budgeter. However, on the flipside, the average group health insurance premiums have been rising at an average rate of 10% every year, while HSA and other consumer-driven plans were only around 4%.
2. Increase Your Deductible - The deductible is the amount you have to pay out-of-pocket towards medical bills before the insurance plan begins to pay out benefits. If you increase your deductible, then the amount you pay monthly (the premium) will decrease. When you take on a higher deductible what you are actually doing is shifting some of the day-to-day medical costs from your insurance company to you. Anything more than $1000 is considered a high deductible for individuals. Your income and cash reserves will largely dictate whether or not a high deductible plan will work for you. In addition, high deductible plans work best for people who are generally healthy, as individuals who tend to have medical problems will not benefit from a high deductible. Also, if your lifestyle or job tends to put you in harms way, you might need to reconsider whether a high deductible plan will work for you.
3. Stay Healthy! - While this may seem too simple and generalized, it really will pay off. Many insurance companies offer lower premiums to people who lead healthy lives. Moreover, if you are generally healthy, your visits to the doctor are fewer so, over the life of your insurance policy your premiums will come further and further down. So how do you “stay healthy”? A big way to lower your premiums is to watch your weight- being obese can add $395 a year to your average $1,500 annual healthcare cost. Watching your weight by exercising and eating fruits and vegetables can also lower your risk for diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, and much more. This will, once again, lower your premiums.
4. Contribute to a Florida Flexible Spending Account - Many employers in Tampa offer flexible spending plans to employees. If your employer offers that type of plan, you may be able to deposit pretax dollars in a health savings account. Since the contribution is taken out of your paycheck before taxes come into the picture, you can use these pretax dollars on your medical expenses whenever you want. Just remember, funds in a FSA DO NOT rollover from year to year while with an HSA they do.
5. Buy Your Policy While You Are Young - The amount you pay on your premiums largely depends on your age. Buying health insurance when you are young can save you on premium payments in the long run. Even more importantly, if you neglect to purchase a Florida health insurance policy while you are young then something may happen to you that will make you uninsurable later on in life (such as a major medical problem or even something as simple as not meeting the insurance company’s height and weight guidelines for Florida individual health insurance).
6. Know Your Plan - Insurance companies have specific rules and regulations on how you can file a claim with their company. Before you purchase a plan, be sure you know the proper way to file a claim and are aware of the benefits, services or providers that are covered under your plan before you receive treatment. Knowing what your insurance company will pay for will save you from having to pay unnecessary fees.
7. Compare Florida Health Insurance Quotes! - Even if you think that you already have a reasonable FL health insurance rate you shouldn’t stop periodically looking for alternatives. It is very important to compare your plan with other available plans at least once a year to make sure that your plan is still competitive. Some people stay with the same health insurance company for decades, never bothering to check if there are more competitive rates. As a Florida resident in a competitive market, you can enjoy a wide variety of health insurance companies to choose from. Use our free insurance quote finder at the top of the page or on our home page to compare different plans from multiple companies at the same time to save you both time and money.
8. Cheapest Isn’t Always Best - As a Tampa resident there are a lot plans available to you. Just because a plan is the cheapest, doesn’t mean that it is right for you. You need to make sure that the plan you buy provides both the coverage and reliability you need, in addition to an attractive price tag. Compare coverage and don't just assume that two plans with the same deductible are identical.
9. Make Use of the Freebies - Many Tampa health plans offer you free health screenings and other wellness programs. Make full use of these programs along with free neighborhood screenings. These sorts of preventative measures, which monitor cholesterol and blood pressure and also many times offer mammograms and other free screening procedures will end up saving you money in the long run because they can prevent a costly medical crisis by detecting it early.
10. Cut Your Prescription Costs - If your insurance company will allow you to order prescriptions via mail, then use this option to cut your medical costs. You can also ask your pharmacist to recommend generic drugs that are less expensive than branded ones. While these won't directly affect your insurance premium, an overall plan to reduce healthcare costs requires that you try to save wherever you can.
There are many great Tampa health insurance options. Save yourself some time and money and just plug your home zip code into the free quote finder at the top of the page. Get started finding Florida health insurance now!
