Today, health care costs are high, and getting higher. Who will pay your bills if you have a serious accident or a major illness? You buy health insurance for the same reason you buy other kinds of insurance, to protect yourself financially. With health insurance, you protect yourself and your family in case you need medical care that could be very expensive. You can't predict what your medical bills will be. In a good year, your costs may be low. But if you become ill, your bills could be very high. If you have insurance, many of your costs are covered by a third-party payer, not by you. A third-party payer can be an insurance company or, in some cases, it can be your employer.

You absolutely MUST spend some time shopping around for different health insurance quotes. Different companies will offer different premiums for the exact same coverage. Furthermore, an increasing number of companies will offer you a quote immediately when you fill out a simple form online, so getting a quote takes half the time it used to as well as a lot of companies will show you a quotes of other companies for you to compare the insurance quotes.

• Copay: A fixed dollar amount you pay at the time services are rendered. Typical copays are for office visits, prescriptions, or hospitalizations.
• Coinsurance: A specified percentage of the cost of treatment the insured is required to pay for all covered medical expenses remaining after the deductible has been met.
• Deductible: The portion of your health care that you pay before insurance starts covering it. Typically, the higher the deductible, the lower the premiums.
• Pre-existing condition: An illness, disease or condition an individual has at the time of enrollment in a health care plan. Pregnancy is not a pre-existing condition.
• Premiums: The monthly or quarterly payments paid for health insurance.
• Catastrophic coverage: This plan pays hospital and medical expenses above a certain (usually high) deductible. The maximum lifetime limit may be high enough to cover the cost of a catastrophic illness.
• Long-term care policies: These cover medical care, nursing care and certain in-home care if you ever become unable to care for yourself due to an extended illness or disability.
• Disability income insurance: This plan will provide you with an income if you become unable to work due to an injury or illness. Benefits are usually 60% of your income at the time of disability.