California Health Insurance Rate Hikes Hit Consumers

The news continues to report higher costs for health insurance falling on individual policy holders. Three of the major California health insurance companies (Aetna, Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield of California) have announced rate increases in the immediate future for individual policyholders.

According to these companies, the increase is justifiable based on the constant rise of medical costs and services. Blue Shield of California has up to 59% rate increases on some individual plans.

What Is In Store For California Health Insurance Rates?

Dave Jones, the current California Insurance Commissioner, sees such increases as a very serious problem. With the current economic situation, many people could not afford another rate hike increase on California health insurance premiums. Such an increase could take a big toll on both small businesses and individual policyholders.

To start, Jones hopes to enforce the health care reform regulation wherein health insurers are required to spend 80% of the premiums collected to cover medical services for California health insurance policyholders.

This Is The Time To Get California Health Insurance Quotes

At Jones' request, leading California health insurance companies have postponed rate increases. This not only gives consumers a window of opportunity, but also gives Jones 60 days to review the proposed increases. Consumers may fare better shopping rates in the interim because rate hikes are typically applied to policies that have been effective the longest. New policyholders are generally the last to see notice of a rate increase.

So far, insurers only give 30 days notice when raising the rates, but potential legislation may double the notice period to 60 days. For consumers in good health, that's good news. With Internet access, it's fast to compare rates from several different California health insurance providers to find the best rates. Medical underwriting approves applications for most people with no pre-existing health conditions. Then, it's just a matter of waiting to be sure a new plan is in force before calling to cancel a previous plan. It's typically that easy to switch when a better rate is available, as long as there are no pre-existing conditions involved.

Another Way To Keep California Health Insurance Premiums Low

One of the plans that offers the lowest California health insurance quotes is called Tonik. Rates are surprisingly low for people under 30, and the rates are still reasonable for those over 30. As expected, these good rates are only available to consumers without pre-existing health problems.

Another way to help keep California health insurance premiums low is with a high-deductible health plan. These plans typically have lower premiums than co-pay plans. Now that health care reform has added 100% coverage for preventive care before the deductible is met, high-deductible plans are a realistic option.

Consumers can cut that deductible down significantly for injury-related medical bills with accident health insurance. In addition, Preferred Provider Organization (PPO) plans offer huge discounts on in-network medical services. With the current cost of health insurance for California, it pays to consider all of these options.

Another way to substantially cut the expense of California health insurance, as well as any health care services that are not covered, is right there in plain sight. A healthy lifestyle has been shown over and over again to actually prevent many of the life-threatening diseases that are reaching epidemic proportions in our country. The biggest savings available on California health insurance typically follow diet and exercise. Better health routinely results in low California health insurance quotes.