Consumer Guide to Health Care
How to Find and Choose Health Insurance
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accuracy of the information provided on externally linked pages.
Think about your (and your family's) health care needs
Answers to these questions might affect what type of health insurance
will work best for you.
Does anyone have a chronic health condition or other special need for
care?
How important is it to you to get your care from particular doctors or
hospitals?
Do you have any children away from home at college?
What kind of health care costs might you encounter in the next year?
Understand the important differences between various types of health insurance
plans
Differences between health insurance plans can affect:
Who will care for you and how much choice you will have in who you
see What kind of care will be covered Where you will receive your care When you will receive your care How much you will pay How you will be cared for
For more help with insurance terms, try this
glossary from the Association of Health Insurance Advisors.
Help is available if
You can get insurance through your (or your spouse's) employer: Find out about your
rights and protections by asking your employer for summaries of your plan.
You can learn more by using the
U.S. Department of Labor’s interactive Health
Benefits Advisor.
You own a small business (2 to 50 employees): here is specific
information to help you find health insurance for you and your employees.
- Your only option is to buy insurance as an individual: here is a guide
to help you try to find affordable and reliable insurance.
Think about what is important to you
Here are some worksheets to keep track of which plans:
Check out health plan quality
Once you find plans that meet your needs, use the guide to health plan
quality to see if there are differences in the quality of care the plans provide.
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print portable document format (PDF) files.
Learn more.
Last Modified: November 19, 2008
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