When your employer doesn't offer health insurance, or doesn't pay for the majority of the plan offered, an alternative option to consider is private health insurance. Private health insurance is medical insurance that you purchase on your own, outside of a group plan with your employer.

Advantages of Private Health Insurance

In the past, purchasing health insurance outside of an employer's group plan was largely unaffordable for the average person. But the price of individual private health insurance has fallen in recent years, and is now much more affordable. Some people are even choosing to purchase their own private health insurance, rather than accept their employers' plans. Today, many employers require their employees to pay a greater amount of the premium, making their monthly payments for health insurance quite high. To remedy this situation, some people are learning that they can find lower monthly premium payments by choosing a private insurance plan.

Private health insurance allows a person to pay for just the amount of coverage that is necessary. By choosing a plan that doesn't cover maternity (something men do not need) or chiropractic services (a form of alternative medicine), you may be able to pay a lower premium. You may also be able to pay a lower premium if you choose a higher deductible, an option not always given by employee plans.

Private health insurance follows you from job to job. If the nature of your job keeps you there for an indefinite period of time, private health insurance allows you to keep steady coverage. There will be no need to change doctors, simply because you have changed jobs.

Disadvantages of Private Health Insurance

Employer plans have fixed group rates that do not depend on the age of an employee. But this is not the case with private plans. In private health insurance policies, insurance companies can raise their rates as you age.

And while employer group plans include coverage for pre-existing conditions in the employer or family members, private insurance policies may not cover pre-existing conditions. Thus, if you have a chronic illness or generally poor health, private health insurance may not be the best option. It will be difficult to find a company that is willing to insure you. Or, if the company is willing to insure you, its premiums may be so high that your employer's benefit package will emerge as the better bargain.

You should remember to renew and pay premiums yourself. Some plans automatically renew from year to year, while others do not. If you neglect to renew or to pay your premiums throughout the year, you may be dropped. With an employer program, the company will automatically pay your premiums.

Choosing private health insurance over employer group insurance makes sense for some people. But before deciding on a private health insurance plan, investigate all the details to make sure it is the right option for you."