Where to Get Inexpensive Medical Insurance for Children

Children need regular medical care to grow up healthy and strong, and children's medical insurance is necessary to provide the ongoing care they need. Here's how to get inexpensive medical insurance for children with a reliable company.

Government Health Insurance Programs for Children

Every state in the U.S. has a government sponsored health insurance program that covers babies, children, and teenagers. These programs are available to low-income families at little or no cost. They pay for doctor visits, hospital fees, and prescription medicines.

To find out if you're eligible for a government health insurance program and to learn more about these programs, visit the U.S. Department of Health & Human Service's Insure Kids Now website at: insurekidsnow.gov.

Private Health Insurance Plans for Children

Indemnity (fee-for-service) plan - If you don't qualify for government health insurance and want a plan that allows you to use your own doctor and hospital, then an indemnity plan is what you want. These plans pay most of your medical expenses (usually 80%) after you pay a deductible of anywhere from $500 to $2,000. Indemnity plans are the most expensive health insurance plans.

Managed health care plan (HMO, PPO, POS) - If you want a plan that will save you the most amount of money, but doesn't allow you to choose your doctor or hospital, then a managed health care plan (HMO, PPO, POS) is what you need. These plans assign you to a network of hospitals and doctors which you use for your health care. PPOs and POSs will allow you to choose a non-network doctor for an added fee. With these plans you pay a co-payment for each doctor visit (usually $5 to $10), and your insurer pays the medical bill. These plans are the cheapest health insurance plans.

Inexpensive Private Medical Insurance for Children

To find inexpensive medical insurance you have to comparison shop, and the quickest and easiest way to do that is to go to an online comparison website where you can get rate quotes from a number of companies. Insurance premiums can vary by hundreds of dollars for the same insurance, so the few minutes you spend at an insurance comparison site will be well worth you while.