How do I get started purchasing health insurance?

Host: How do I get started?

Bob Hurley: The best way to get started when it comes to getting a health insurance is recognizing that you need to do it quickly if you don't have any coverage. You don't want to go without coverage. You are just exposing yourself too much. So the best way to get started is to go the internet, go to one of the search engines, type in health insurance or simply come to our website, eHealth Insurance and you can quickly put in your zip code and your birth date and you are going to immediately be presented with health insurance plans that are available in your specific area and then you can start comparing those health insurance plans based on price, you can compare them based on what type of plan they are, whether they are PPO plan or an HMO plan so there is a number of different filters that you can use when you are doing your shopping that you maybe more comfortable with.

So pick a filter that works for you if it's priced, that's a good a way to go out of our -our customers like to do that and you can compare the most expensive plan with the least expensive plan, maybe you want to pick one in the middle and then you can start to get an idea what kinds of benefits are offered at those different prices. So once you have done that you are going to get a good sense of market that's available in your area.

You are going to see some of the name brand cares that are available. So you have already learned something just from that experience, then what you should do as you zero in on some of the benefits that are most important for example, if you think that the benefit for going to the doctor is the most important benefit, then you are going to look at that health plan see, what is it going to cost me to go to the doctor on a regular basis? Is there a co-payment or is it simply subjected to the deductible? Learn about that. If maternity is the most important thing for you because you are starting to think about planning a family you absolutely need to zero in on what the maternity benefits are of those different plans. You should go right to that line item, the site is set up for that thing so you can go to the maternity benefit and then see what each of the plans offers in the way of benefits for delivering a baby and the maternity benefits in general. So again, think about what are the benefits that are most important to me as I am making this decision to buy a health insurance.

Once you have overcome all of that hopefully, you have now sorted out some of the plans and you are getting down at maybe one or two plans that you feel confident about. If you have any questions left with regard to your selection of a health insurance plan, pick up the phone, there is an 800 number on our site, you can dial it, you can talk to our licensed insurance rep, they can answer any remaining questions that you have related to that product. How the benefits work? How much the cost will be? What the application process is?

But get those questions answered before you buy and then once you are comfortable, go ahead and apply online and you can put your credit card in and electronically sign it. That application is submitted to a health insurance company and depending on your answers to the questions on the website you could be approved in 24 hours for your health insurance plan and you can be notified very quickly. For other people, it may take a few days if the health status needs to be reviewed. So it can happen very quickly and you can have yourself a good quality health insurance plan on a price you can afford and you can get your family covered if that's something that you need to do.