Currently there are about five big name Texas Health Insurance companies activitly marketing products here in the great state. Humana, Cigna, Blue Cross Blue Shield, United Health Care and Aetna. Oh, there may be one or two others but those are your players.

Lets rank them:

1. Humana. Their doctor co-pay plan offers a $500 yearly benefit for in office lab and x-rays. Also, their rates seem well in line with market.
2. Cigna. They offer unbelievable options for plan design and they too have adjusted their rates to be more in line with market. They also don’t do exclusion rider for pre existing medical conditions, instead they rate the premium up. This procedure is the reason they are ranked number 2
3. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas. In some parts of the state they have the lowest rates and plan design is not quite as good as Humana but effective all the same.
4. United Health Care. Also known as Golden Rule Insurance, their rates are well above market trends and their offerings are nothing special as compared to the other carriers.
5. Aetna. They have been over priced for years but seem to be trending down on price in some zip codes. They also offer rate ups rather than exclusion riders for pre existing conditions. They are almost the number 4 carrier of choice.

These rankings are for doctor visit copay Texas Health Insurance plans only. We will visit catastrophic high deductible plans another time.

If you live in the Lone Star state, you need affordable health insurance just as much as you would anywhere else. This is the protection that allows for some form of coverage for your medical expenses in the event of injury or emergency. It could be a catastrophic plan or the ever popular PPO plans the fact is something needs to be backing up you and your family in the event of a medical situation and fact also is that in just a few short years you are required by federal law to carry an approved plan. The kind of coverage you may have available to you will depend on your needs, and some people pay more than others for their insurance policies. If you want to avoid the hefty costs of premiums, you may want to take some time to save money on your health insurance policy. Here are a few tips that may help you get the Texas health insurance policy that is right for your budget.

You should start by determining what sorts of medical needs you are likely to have. Do you need to cover prescription medications a lot, or do you mainly need doctor visits? Do you have operations to come in the future, or are you likely to only need coverage every once and awhile? Every person needs a Texas health insurance plan that can compensate them in the event of an emergency, but not everyone needs the highest coverage out there. There is no sense in spending money on a large policy if you can’t use it.

See if there is any way to get Texas health insurance through your employer. Some employers will pay a portion of your premiums every month as a reward for working with them. This is not always the case, and the amount of coverage you can get this way may not satisfy your needs. Nevertheless, this could provide you with a venue for discounts. If you can’t get this kind of program, you may be able to work with a co-pay insurance policy outside of work that can still save you money on your medical expenses.

If you are finding that you must go at it alone and shop for your own policy that’s fine, there are two basic plans that should provide adequate benefits. The first is the H.S.A. catastrophic type policies and then there is the ever popular but growing in expense PPO Doctor CoPay plan. Both are great plans and of course both probably follow the new federal health care reform provisions allowing for first dollar coverage of preventive care.

Make sure that you compare rates from different Texas health insurance companies. A friend of yours may have gotten a great deal from one company, but that does not mean that you will get a great deal from that company as well. You can compare rates from different companies to see what your options are. Then you will be able to determine where you may get the best deal. Make sure that you assess the policy in its entirety before you just compare prices. Then you will be able to see where you can get the most out of your money.

For more information or to get a free Texas Health Insurance quote visit our website.

Interesting trend developing over the last two weeks related to underwriting for individual health insurance plans. Having been in the Texas health insurance business since 1993 I feel I have more than an addaquate grasp of market conditions and the personalities of  each Texas health insurance company, however after the last two weeks I am starting to question my own ability. Now, I am not questioning my personal knack for properly finding the most affordable health insurance in Texas, my second guessing comes in the form of underwriting. I have spent years developing relationships with the different Texas health insurance companies, gathering the contact phone numbers of underwriters and company executives in order to ensure every client I represent gets the utmost attention. Also this process has allowed me to understand and know what each and every Texas insurance company looks for when deciding what underwriting decision to administer to every new client.

Now, why am I mentioning all this? Simple, over the last two weeks it appears that most of the health insurance companies have done an about face on underwriting. Prospective consumers of individual health insurance in Texas are getting negitave underwriting decision at an alarming rate. Clients that 6 months ago would be approved prefered or standard are now being denied coverage. Also, private health insurance consumers are having medical records and paramedical exams requested at the same alarming rate.

Aetna health insurance in Texas has so disappointed me over the last 2 weeks that I am almost to the point of backing away for quoting them unless the consumer and their family are so squeaky clean from a medical standpoint that our creator looks at them as role models. This is ridiculous. Aetna has always been one of the more liberal outfits when it comes to underwriting. According to an inside source a meeting was conducted in mid January with company staffers to inform them that the underwriting “nut” would be tightened down. This source went on to express that changes had to happen because of the low profit margin Aetna has built into their policies and there was growing concern that President Obama would authorize administrative policies that adversely affected their ability to remain profitable. Of course this information would never be confirmed by Aetna corporate, but like I said my knowledge is from an inside source.

I have also noticed another very large health insurance company in Texas ordering not only medical records but wanted the applicant to consent to a paramedical exam. A paramedical exam is a short physical exam usually preformed at the insurance companies expense and preformed at the Texas health insurance consumers home or place of business. Another Texas individual health insurance company ordered a massive full blown physical exam and expected the client to pay for it. Of course I advised against it as I felt this was nothing more than the insurance company attempting to get the client to cancel the underwriting process.

Almost every individual health insurance company in Texas has a process called pre screening available to Texas health insurance brokers but for the last 10 years I have never had to use it as I almost always knew with unbelievable accuracy what decision the health insurance company would render. I now find myself spending hours each days pushing emails back and forth to underwriting pre screen departments so I can get a little better handle on their view regarding different health conditions.

Health insurance companies in Texas will say nothing has changed but I say, hogwash. I know something has changed and my daily conversations with fellow agents and brokers confirms this. They are having the same difficult problems. Now, my theory on why. I think this wrecked economy has insurance companies feeling the same pinch that banks are. Since insurance companies invest a large percentage of their money in real estate and other vehicles that have taken a massive hit they could be tapped out and only lucky to survive to the next day. Another factor that could be coming into play is the threat by President Obama to snatch the health insurance companies up by the hair on their head and shake some common sense into them with health care reform. Whatever the true reason, the one being penalized is the individual health insurance in Texas consumer.

What should the shopper for affordable health insurance in Texas do? One, and this is a biggie, deal with an established veteran broker or agent. We are the only ones that have the experience to navigate through the changes and upheaval. One thought, with these changes, i will become even more conservative in my underwriting approach and would rather error on the side of caution. This is not the time to take risks, still shop your Texas health insurance, but be careful.