When you think of Ohio individual health insurance, Anthem Blue Cross is probably the first health insurance company that comes up. Granted, UnitedHealthcare, Aetna and Medical Mutual are big companies, but Anthem is Ohio’s flagship health insurance provider.

Like many companies, Anthem considers many factors when determining rates. Some of the factors include height/weight, current medications, medical history, smoking status, and of course, your age. County of residence and/or zip code will also affect the rate.

We proudly represent Anthem and offer their lowest available rates. Since rates are mandated by the Department Of Insurance, no broker or Agency can offer a better price. However, since we represent all major companies and not just one company, we”ll give you a balanced and unbiased comparison of your best options.

In most cases, Anthem’s individual rates tend to be high in the Northern portion of the state. The Columbus, Springfield,  Dayton and Cincinnati areas often feature Anthem’s most competitive rates. Typically, their main competition for HSA and comprehensive plans comes from Medical Mutual and UnitedHealthcare. Both of those carriers are worth considering, especially if you live in Hamilton County or any part of Southwestern Ohio.

Occasionally, Anthem, like most Ohio health insurance companies, will check your medical history with the Medical Information Bureau (MIB). The MIB is a membership corporation owned by member life insurance companies in the United States and Canada. It maintains a database for members to exchange confidential information of underwriting significance.

You are entitled to request a free copy of your report once per year. Simply call the MIB at  (866) 692-6901 .

To view, compare, and apply for high quality Ohio health insurance plans, please click on the “Get Instant Quote” button at the top of the page. Your information remains secure and is never given or sold to any other broker or company.

Cinergy Health doesn”t seem to do as much advertising these days. No, they don’t pitch OxiClean or Mighty Putty, but Cinergy does heavily market their medical plans.

Are they worth it? In most cases…No! In fact, unless you thoroughly read the fine print of your policy, you may be in for a jolt!

Available Cinergy Plans

Two types of plans are available. “Cinergy Health Signature” is their discount health plan and “Cinergy Health Preferred” is their insurance plan. Both plans offer far less coverage than a conventional Ohio health insurance policy from a major insurer…such as Blue Cross, Aetna or UnitedHealthCare.

“Cinergy Health Signature” is NOT an health insurance policy. It may help you reduce some of your healthcare costs, but not necessarily a significant amount. Coverage benefits are very vague and the premium for a single person is almost $1000 per year. And, the plans are actually provided by Patriot Health Florida, who requires you to PAY FOR ALL HEALTHCARE SERVICES in advance. Later, you may receive a discount on some of those expenses.

“Cinergy Health Preferred 500” is considered an insurance plan, but coverages are limited and descriptions of these coverages are fairly vague on their website. For example, this plan only covers ONE emergency room visit per year. Only ONE preventative visit per year is allowed. Daily hospital confinement charges are also limited to $500 per day and 30 days per year.

The Cost

If you can qualify for an Ohio Health Insurance Plan from a major carrier, then don’t waste your time with this carrier. If you are uninsurable, then you may want to consider a plan…but read the policy in its entirety. Cinergy will only consider refund requests in writing and will not refund the application fee.

Affordable Ohio health insurance is available. To instantly view and compare high quality Ohio health plans, please click on the “Get Instant Quote” button at the top of the page. You can get comprehensive coverage without breaking the bank.

UPDATE April 2011- I don””t see as much advertising from Cinergy three years after I wrote the original article. Their “Limited Health Benefit” plan might be worth considering if you are uninsurable. But keep in mind that the plan is NOT a major medical insurance plan and is not to be used to replace a catastrophic policy.

Cinergy Ohio health insurance should not be used to replace major medical or catastrophic health insurance policies. View affordable alternative Ohio plans.

I don”t know about you, but when I see the term “low cost,” I immediately assume the product is of very little use and limited quality. And when I see the Infomercial king Billy Mays pitching a health insurance policy…well…I know there”s something wrong. And there is.

The policy he”s peddling is like Swiss cheese. Full of holes…and full of something else as well! Consider these policy provisions on the 1100 Series policy:

$100 application fee. Sorry…but you NEVER should pay an application fee.
Only $1000 of surgery coverage per year. Seriously…I”m not kidding!
Limit of $20 per blood test of lab test.
Limit of $220 for an MRI.
Only $1100 of your hospitalization charges are covered per year.
Anesthesia charges limited to $250 per surgery (that”s about 10 minutes, folks!).
NO outpatient surgery coverage.
Inpatient hospital expenses such as lab work, blood tests, medications etc…are NOT covered!

And it keeps getting better! For Ohio residents, the cost is NOT $50 per month, as you might expect. Try $159 per month and a whopping $269 per month for an entire family.

At those prices, you should get a food dehydrator, a knives and cutlery set, a pasta maker, a pocket fisherman and an autographed picture of Lebron James.

Granted, this plan is a little better than the dreaded “discount plans” that have flooded the market. But, there are many inexpensive major medical health insurance plans that are a much better option than Billy”s overpriced product.

A few of these options include UnitedHealthCare”s Copay Saver plans, Anthem”s Value plans and Aetna”s Value plans.

Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) would also be a much better alternative to may of these infomercial-style health plans. An HSA gives you major medical health coverage at an extremely affordable rate. Although most expenses are subject to a deductible, you will receive network-negotiated discounts and in some cases, preventive coverage at little or no out-of-pocket cost. There are also tax advantages to many HSA policyholders.

To be eligible for a Health Savings Account, an individual must be covered by a HSA-qualified High Deductible Health Plan (HDHP) and must not be covered by other health insurance that is not an HDHP.

You are only allowed to have automobile, dental, vision, disability and long-term care insurance at the same time as an HDHP. You may also have coverage for a specific disease or illness as long as it pays a specific dollar amount when the policy is triggered. Wellness programs offered by your employer are also permitted if they do not pay significant medical benefits.

To view high quality Ohio health insurance plans, please click on the “Get Instant Quote” button at the top of the page.

June 2009 UPDATE- Sadly, Billy Mays passed away yesterday. I know we”ll all miss him.

September 2010 UPDATE- I still miss Billy, but not info-commercials! There are a lot of medical discount plans still being peddled and most of them are still not worth the paper they”re printed on. And of course…LeBron is gone now.

Boy…are you in trouble! I hear you have to find health insurance for yourself and your family. And you don’t have a clue where to start, what to look for or who to ask. Well, join the thousands of consumers that are in the same boat (I’ll refrain from any more puns).

Here’s the good news. You live in Ohio, so your Ohio health insurance rates will be fairly low compared to most states. In addition, there’s a wide variety of plans to choose from.

Oh. I get it. There are TOO many plans. They all look similar. And the guy from New Jersey tells you buy his plan and the telemarketer from Florida say she’ll tell you which plan is the best…AFTER you give him your credit card information. Sheesh! And let’s not forget the slick salesperson that quotes you a price, but can’t provide the coverages in writing.

To help you out. I have listed below 10 of the best available health insurance plans to Ohio residents. Yes, you will have to medically qualify. Also, rates will vary according to your age and zip code. And of course…if you don’t smoke, you’ll be getting a healthy discount.

So here we go…

Anthem Blue Access Plan 2 $25 Copay on office visits. No deductible on prescriptions.

Anthem Luminos HIA Health Savings Account. Top- notch with preventative coverage

Medical Mutual SuperMed One. Solid policy.

UnitedHealthCare Copay Select. No frills and straightforward.

Celtic Preferred Select. Celtic’s very best policy.

National Life No Claim Allowed. OK. I’m just making sure you’re still with me!

Medical Mutual SuperMed One has. I like Anthem’s better, but this one isn’t bad.

UnitedHealthCare HSA 100. Nice policy. Skip the UHC  HSA 80.

Anthem Blue Access Plan 3. 100% coverage after the deductible.

Aetna PPO. Barely makes the list. Good policy, but not great.

Are you ready for for my Bottom 10? I have some doosies, but I’ll spare certain companies the embarrassment.

UPDATE June 2011: It’s hard to believe but I wrote this post about three years ago. Plans change and as I look at this list, most of these policies have changed and some aren’t even offered any more. It might be best to visit the main site (Ohioquotes.com) and view current Ohio Health Insurance options.

McCain means business!

If you”re like myself and my family, you probably pay for your own health insurance. And thus, you also pay at least a few hundred dollars in premiums each month. And if you”re self-employed, it”s an expense that you have seem rising almost every year.

Will John McCain help you? How about Barack Obama? What about Ross Perot? Oh, sorry. He”s not running this year.

If elected, Obama says he will make available a new national health plan to all Americans, including the self-employed and small businesses, to buy affordable health coverage that is similar to the plan available to members of Congress. The Obama plan will feature some of the following:

1. Guaranteed eligibility. No American will be turned away from any insurance plan because of illness or any pre-existing conditions.

2. Comprehensive benefits. The benefit package will be similar to that offered through Federal Employees Health Benefits Program (FEHBP), the plan members of Congress have. The plan will cover all essential medical services, including preventive, maternity and mental health care.

3. Affordable premiums, co-pays and deductibles.

4. Subsidies. Individuals and families who do not qualify for Medicaid or SCHIP but still need financial assistance will receive an income-related federal subsidy to buy into the new public plan or purchase a private health care plan.

5. Simplified paperwork and reduced health costs.

6. Easy enrollment. The new public plan will have simple enrollment and provide ready access to coverage.

However, John McCain says he would allow the nationwide sale of private health insurance without government oversight, similar to the bill that Rep. John Shadegg, an Arizona Republican, has introduced. While there have been Democratic cosponsors of that bill in the past, the fact that McCain is currently considering the proposal now probably means bipartisan action is unlikely for the foreseeable future. McCain”s vision also includes tax-credits for many people that buy their own health insurance. That”s one of the big features I like about his plan.
So what”s the best choice for consumers? Well…do we really want the government to become the nation”s largest health insurance company? This is what would occur under Obama”s plan. Increased competition is better for all of us, so I favor McCain”s ideas.

UPDATE: 1-19-11. Of course, we all know John McCain did not win the election and Obamacare was passed into law.