• Health-insurance plans can be tailored for individuals.doctor t image by Andrey Kiselev from Fotolia.com
  
  Health insurance is an important type of insurance to have because it will be there to financially assist with paying for health care, whose costs can be overwhelming in case of a prolonged illness or hospitalization. Private health insurance is available for many people and choosing among all of the options to find the right plan can can help save you money as you purchase the coverage that you need.
  
  

Types of Health Insurance

• Within the world of health insurance, three types of policies exist. The most expensive is traditional insurance. These plans allow the insured to choose their own doctors and hospitals. Health-maintenance organizations (HMOs) are another option where the members choose from a list of approved doctors and hospitals. The third type of insurance is preferred provider organizations (PPOs) where members can choose doctors who are on the preferred list or choose doctors who are not, and pay higher co-pays.
  
  

Deductibles

• All insurance plans come with deductibles that must be met before the insurance company will pay for medical expenses incurred at hospitals, whether it is a trip to the emergency room or a hospital stay. Health insurance plans with higher deductibles almost always cost less on a monthly basis than plans with low deductibles.
  
  People who have excellent or whose budget is limited can choose to pay higher deductibles. However, in the case of an accident or unforeseen illness, they will have to pay the deductible to the hospital out of their own pocket.
  
  

Catastrophic Health Insurance

• People whose health is excellent and do not have access to employer provided health insurance can choose catastrophic health insurance that will cover their hospital stay and emergency-room visits. These policies also have a range of deductibles that will change the monthly premium, up or down. High deductibles will have lower monthly payments.
  
  

When Cost Is an Issue

• Cost is often the No.1 issue when choosing a health-care plan. Some companies offer plans where the customers can pick from a menu of coverage options that can reduce the overall cost of being insured. People can elect to drop coverage for certain illnesses and treatments. For example, women who know for certain that they will not have children can drop the pregnancy coverage on the plan to save money. Others who have no history of cancer in their families can opt out of coverage for treatment for cancer.
  
  While not covering every health condition can be risky, in the short term it can make sense if it means having some insurance for accidents or catastrophic illnesses or for short-term coverage until a new policy kicks in that is more comprehensive with more complete covserage.