Affordable Health Insurance | Free Health Insurance Quote

eHealthInsurance is the #1 source for Individual and Family health insurance plans nationwide, online or offline. Unless you get your health insurance through an employer, an Individual and Family health insurance plan is your standard private market option. If you need to purchase individual health insurance, it can be expensive. Unlike group plans, in which the costs and risks associated with health care are spread among many people; individual health policies are "medically underwritten" to take into account your personal health history. Any "pre-existing" condition such as heart disease, diabetes, and even pregnancy, can nix your chances of acceptance or boost your premiums.Though your choice of plans will differ from state to state, there’s a great deal of variety in the Individual and Family market and you may be surprised by the affordable options available. These plans typically provide both preventive and emergency care coverage for families and individuals and generally fall into two main categories: indemnity plans, or managed-care plans.

In many states, Individual and Family health insurance plans are underwritten by the insurance company and you may be denied coverage -or your coverage may be limited- due to your medical history or conditions.

Individual and family health insurance plans are usually described as either "indemnity" or "managed-care" plans. Put broadly, the major differences concern choice of healthcare providers, out-of-pocket costs and how bills are paid. Typically, indemnity plans offer a broader selection of healthcare providers than managed care plans. Indemnity plans pay their share of the costs for covered services only after they receive a bill (which means that you may have to pay up front and then obtain reimbursement from your health insurance company).

There are several different types of managed-care health insurance plans. These include HMO, PPO, and POS plans. Managed-care plans typically make use of healthcare provider networks. Healthcare providers within a network agree to perform services for managed-care plan patients at pre-negotiated rates and will usually submit the claim to the insurance company for you. In general, you'll have less paperwork and lower out-of-pocket costs with a managed care health insurance plan and a broader choice of healthcare providers with an indemnity plan.

Pfizer to offer free drugs to people who lost jobs, health insurance (Pioneer Press)TRENTON, N.J. ? Pfizer Inc. is unveiling a new program today that will let people who have lost their jobs and health insurance keep taking some widely prescribed Pfizer medications ? for free, and for up to a year.

IBM Helps Government Of Slovenia To Build Smart Health Insurance System (Medical News Today)The Health Insurance Institute of Slovenia announced that it will roll out a new electronic health insurance card system based on IBM (NYSE: IBM) technology across the country. The new system enables healthcare providers to instantly and accurately check a patient's health insurance status and allows for health claims to be processed online.

Over 1 M Bulgarians Live without Health Insurance (Novinite.com)84% of Bulgarinas, who do not have health insurance have not been to a doctor in the last 12 months and 95% have not visited a hospital. Photo by Sofia Photo Agency

Health insurance from Uncle Sam gets a look (Aberdeen American News)WASHINGTON (AP) — Look out Aetna, Humana and UnitedHealthcare. Senators are meeting behind closed doors to consider whether the federal government should jump into the health insurance business....

Senate weighs plan for government health insurance (AP via Yahoo! News)Look out Aetna, Humana and UnitedHealthcare. Senators are meeting behind closed doors to consider whether the federal government should jump into the health insurance business.

Council launches push to get health insurance for workers at LAX (Los Angeles Times)The plan would increase the hourly wage under the L.A. living-wage ordinance for about 5,000 low-income employees. The Los Angeles City Council on Wednesday launched an effort to provide health insurance for about 5,000 low-income workers at Los Angeles International Airport by increasing the hourly wage required under the city's "living-wage" ordinance.

Health insurance from Uncle Sam gets a look (The Washington Times)WASHINGTON (AP) -- Look out Aetna, Humana and UnitedHealthcare. Senators are meeting behind closed doors to consider whether the federal government should jump into the health insurance business. The government already covers medical care for seniors, disabled people, poor families and many children. But coverage in those programs is restricted to people who meet certain qualifications, ...

Bill targets health insurance costs, small businesses (The Fort Collins Coloradoan)Small businesses would have access to more affordable health insurance for their employees under a bill recently introduced in the House and Senate with bipartisan support.

Documents say House Democrats weighing health insurance aid for families making up to $88,000 (Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune)WASHINGTON - Documents say House Democrats weighing health insurance aid for families making up to $88,000. Comments are subject to the site's terms of use and do not necessarily reflect the opinion or approval of the Star Tribune.