In Illinois, 1.4 million adults do not have health insurance. And this number is expected to rise as insurance costs go up and businesses reduce or drop insurance benefits. So where can you find low cost health insurance in Illinois?
Explore Your Options
Many Illinois residents are fortunate enough to get adequate health insurance through their employers. However, if you’re unemployed or your company doesn’t offer health insurance you can still get coverage:
* If you left a job that offered health insurance or your employer dropped your health insurance benefits, look into COBRA coverage. COBRA offers you coverage under your former employer’s health insurance plan for a few months at your own cost.
* Look into Illinois Covered, the state health insurance program. This program helps with health care and insurance costs for a variety of Illinoisans, including children, low-income residents, uninsured adults, businesses, and middle-class families.
* Group insurance from an organization. If you buy health insurance through an organization such as your college alumni group or a professional group, you may be able to qualify for a lower group rate.
* Buy an individual health insurance plan. This may be the most expensive option, but it also offers the most choices, as many types of individual plans are available: comprehensive coverage, major medical coverage, emergency coverage, short-term coverage, PPOs, HMOs, and POSs.
Finding a Low Cost Illinois Health Insurance Policy
If you decide to buy an individual health insurance plan, an insurance comparison website is the best place to find a low cost policy. On these sites you spend a few minutes completing a form with information about yourself and your health insurance needs. Once you complete the form you’ll receive health insurance quotes from multiple A-rated insurance companies.
The best websites also let you talk with insurance professionals via an online chat service so you can ask questions and make sure you get the best health insurance plan for you (see link below).
Visit or click on the following link to get cheap Illinois health insurance quotes from top-rated companies and see how much you can save. You can also get more insurance tips there.
The authors, Brian Stevens and Stacey Schifferdecker, have spent 30 years in the insurance and finance industries, and have written a number of articles on health insurance in Illinois.