It’s also important to consider more than your monthly payments when choosing a plan. Even if you choose a plan with a lower premium, you may end up with a higher deductible, which could lead to you having to foot large medical bills before your insurance kicks in.
Be sure to not only consider your budget but your past and present health needs. You may find you will save money with a plan that has a higher monthly premium and lower deductible if you’re someone who needs frequent hospital or doctor’s visits.
If you are unsure what plan is best for your needs and your budget, one of eHealth’s licensed health insurance agents can help you make the right decision. You can check out our other resource center content on health insurance costs as well.
Depending on the type of health insurance you are looking for and other relevant circumstances in your life, you may be able to buy health insurance at any point in the year, or you may have to wait until the Open Enrollment Period, which is the annual period when you can enroll in ACA major medical health insurance plans. Open enrollment periods may vary by state, so check out the full list of Open Enrollment Periods by state to see when you’ll be able to find an ACA plan.
That being said, if you experienced a qualifying life event (loss of employer-sponsored health insurance, divorce, relocation to a new coverage area, etc.) you may be eligible for a Special Enrollment Period, which would allow you to sign up for an ACA plan outside of OEP.
Additionally, Medicare has a separate Annual Election Period, and many other types of insurance plans, like short term health insurance plans, can be purchased year round. If you have specific questions on when you can sign up for specific health insurance plans, the eHealth team can help you figure out when you can purchase the right plan for you.
There are a few places where you can buy health insurance. You can go through your state or the federal marketplace or through an insurer.
You can also shop with eHealth, the first and largest independent online health insurance marketplace. Choose from over 10,000 plans from over 180 insurance companies. We’re unbiased and we’re here to help you find the right plan for you, your family, or your small business.
Find ACA coverage or fill a coverage gap with a short-term insurance plan from our selection of over 3,600 plans from over 16 carriers.
Once you’ve found the right plan, let eHealth be your health insurance advocate. Our customer support team is willing and able to answer any questions you may have about your plan’s coverage, billing, or any other tricky aspects of health insurance.
We’re here for you around the clock! With our online chat function, email, and phone support we’re available 24/7.
We’re committed to helping make health insurance affordable and easy. We’ve done it for over 5 million customers, let us help you too!
Insurance isn’t the most exciting facet of car ownership, but it’s one of the most important. Your policy is designed to protect you from financial calamity in the event of a collision or related injury, and insurance coverage is required by most states if you want to register a car. Consumer Reports recommends shopping around for the best policy, not only when you buy a car but also every few years, to make sure you’re always getting the best deal possible.
Through a survey of more than 40,000 members, CR has identified the insurance companies that offer the best service with the most competitive monthly premiums. To get the best car insurance rates, it helps to understand what attributes insurers consider when they formulate your monthly premiums. They include the following factors.
Driver profile: Age, driving experience, and driver history—for example, if you’ve had crashes or traffic violations—can all influence the cost of your premium because the insurer may put you in a higher risk category. The addition of a teen driver can also raise the cost of your policy.
Car type: In general, the more expensive the car, the higher the premium because expensive cars cost more to repair and replace. High-performance cars also cost more to insure because of the increased risk associated with owning a faster car.
Credit history: According to Experian, a credit reporting agency, most states allow insurers to factor a customer’s credit score into their rates. Insurers maintain that credit history is a good predictor of the risk that they’ll have to shell out for insurance claims. California, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Oregon, and Utah restrict or prohibit the practice. In other states, improving your credit score can help you get a better rate.
External conditions: Local weather patterns, traffic conditions, and other factors that increase the likelihood of claims result in higher rates. For example, if damaging storms in your area have generated lots of car-insurance claims in the past, such as major hurricanes and flooding, your company may apply to your state’s insurance regulator for an across-the-board rate increase to reflect its increased exposure to that risk. Customers in areas with higher rates of collisions are also likely to pay more.
It is a common misconception that insurers reward customers for sticking around. A recent national survey commissioned by CR shows that you can save money by shopping around for a better rate from time to time. Twenty-eight percent of the members we surveyed told us they’d switched insurers in the past six years. Among those, 58 percent said they’d found a better price, and 37 percent said they switched because of premium increases from their previous insurer.
What Is General Liability Insurance“Price optimization” can be another reason to shop for a new insurer every few years. So far, 20 states have outlawed this controversial practice, which allows insurers to raise rates for reasons that aren’t related to increased liability risk. Here’s how it works: If an insurer figures you aren’t likely to jump ship to another carrier, it may raise rates just because it can, costing you extra money.
If you get married, add a teen driver to your policy, or add or remove a vehicle, or the distance of your commute changes—as it did for many people during the pandemic—ask your insurer how much the changes will cost or save you. Shop other insurance companies to see which carrier can give you the best rate. Remember to ask for an adjustment to your coverage to reflect your car’s depreciation; insurers don’t necessarily do that without your prodding.
For a comprehensive list of insurers that might not be visible with a simple Google search, consult CR’s car insurance ratings.
Securing a lower premium is important, but price isn’t everything. Find a carrier that—in addition to having competitively low premiums—provides fair and fast claim settlements, offers great customer service outside of claims, helps you review your policy thoroughly, and proactively offers help and advice.
CR rates insurers based on member feedback on the cost of their premiums, the ease of processing claims, the quality of non-claim-related customer service, thoroughness of policy review, clarity of policy coverage, and proactive help and advice. To create our ratings, we surveyed 40,251 CR members in the summer of 2022 about their car insurance. They provided us with 47,713 reports on their experiences with the car insurance companies they did business with, and told us whether they had switched insurers or filed a claim between 2018 and 2022. (CR members’ experiences are not necessarily representative of the U.S. population.)
Most states require drivers to have at least minimum coverage, but it’s a good idea to bolster your coverage beyond these minimums if you can afford to do so.
Liability insurance: This covers bodily injury and property damage caused to another party in a crash. Experts recommend buying more than the legal minimum even if you don’t have much in assets to protect. Depending on your state, a portion of your wages could be garnished in a judgment against you. A more protective level of coverage is $100,000 per person, $300,000 per incident, and $100,000 for property damage. Douglas Heller, an insurance expert at the Consumer Federation of America (CFA), says an umbrella liability policy may be worth considering because it extends coverage for both your car and home, and it offers additional protections as well. Those policies usually increase the per-person coverage to $300,000.
Liability insurance: This covers bodily injury and property damage caused to another party in a crash. Experts recommend buying more than the legal minimum even if you don’t have much in assets to protect. Depending on your state, a portion of your wages could be garnished in a judgment against you. A more protective level of coverage is $100,000 per person, $300,000 per incident, and $100,000 for property damage. Douglas Heller, an insurance expert at the Consumer Federation of America (CFA), says an umbrella liability policy may be worth considering because it extends coverage for both your car and home, and it offers additional protections as well. Those policies usually increase the per-person coverage to $300,000.
Low-limit coverage: Heller says that although they offer better protection, umbrella policies and policies with higher liability limits can be difficult for lower-income drivers to afford. Currently, only three states—California, Hawaii, and New Jersey—offer specialized insurance coverage for lower-income drivers. Heller says that having low-limit liability coverage is better than going without insurance, or simply not driving, which can cut people off from economic opportunity.
Uninsured motorist coverage: In many states, this coverage is optional—but worth having. According to the Insurance Information Institute, 1 in 8 drivers don’t carry car insurance. That’s a statistic that has remained fairly constant for more than two decades, making uninsured motorist coverage a smart buy, even if it’s not required. This coverage, which is usually inexpensive, pays medical bills for you and your passengers after a crash caused by an uninsured, at-fault driver. Why get it in a no-fault state, where your company pays regardless of who’s at fault? Because it reimburses for lost wages after a crash. Uninsured motorist insurance also covers you and your household as pedestrians, and in hit-and-run crashes. (Pedestrian fatalities have been on the rise in the U.S., increasing by 54 percent from 2010 to 2020, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.) Heller says you want to get at least as much coverage for yourself as you would get for others involved in a crash.
Underinsured coverage: More motorists are opting to carry only state-mandated minimum liability coverages in order to save money. Underinsured coverage protects you if you get into a crash with someone who doesn’t have enough insurance to cover the cost of injuries and property damage.
Collision insurance, which pays for crash damage, and comprehensive insurance, which protects against vehicle theft and damage caused by storms and such, are two types of coverage you may be able to whittle down in order to reduce your premium. You also may be able to forgo other types to save even more money.
Adjust your deductible. Raising your comprehensive and collision deductibles from $500 to $1,000 can shave 11 percent off your premium on average, says Hunter at the CFA. Just make sure you can afford to pay the extra out-of-pocket cost if you’re unfortunate enough to get into a crash.
Older cars don’t need extra coverage. Consider dropping collision and comprehensive coverage when your annual premiums equal or exceed 10 percent of your car’s book value. Otherwise, you could end up paying more over time than you would recoup for repair or replacement of your damaged, stolen, or totaled vehicle. (If you have a car that is appreciating and is old enough to be considered a classic, and you don’t drive it to and from work and for most errands, consider getting a classic car policy. That type of coverage insures your car for an agreed-upon value based on its collectability and other factors.)
Drop rental reimbursement coverage. If you have another car you can use while your vehicle is being repaired, you don’t need to buy this coverage. You can also skip roadside assistance coverage if you have an auto-club membership that’s a better deal, or if roadside assistance comes as part of your car’s warranty.
Review personal injury protection and medical payments coverage. If you already have good health coverage, you don’t need it through your auto policy. Keep the coverage if you don’t have health insurance, or if your usual passengers might not be well-insured.
Actively pursue discounts. They can include breaks for bundling home, auto, and umbrella policies with the same carrier; taking a safe-driving course; letting your carrier know about your lower annual mileage; and reporting your teen driver’s good academic average, typically a B or better.