Did you really go online and request an Ohio health insurance quote? Well…let me guess what happened. You received 26 phone calls the first day, and about 15 calls every day for two weeks.

There are many low cost Ohio health insurance plans that have premiums 15%-40% lower than the typical standard plan. Coverages are often quite rich and the underwriting criteria is identical to all other plans.

Generally, the major differences between the most expensive plans and the “low cost” plans are the out of pocket expenses on major claims and the number of allowed office visits per year. Also, non-generic prescriptions may be limited or not covered under the low cost plans.

For example, the current monthly rate for a 40-year old male in Warren County is between $90 and $120 per month. Unlimited office visits and comprehensive prescription coverage is common on these types of policies.

But if price is the top priority, here are five low-cost Ohio health insurance options:

$50  Aetna’s  Preventative and Hospital Care plan. Limited office visit coverage with good preventative features

$60  Aetna’s PPO Value 5000 plan. Limited office visit coverage with some prescription coverage included.

$68  Anthem’s  Blue Access Value plan. Limited office visit coverage with some prescription coverage included.

$69  UnitedHealthCare’s Copay Select plan. Unlimited office visit coverage with comprehensive prescription coverage. $7500 deductible on major items.

$78  Aetna’s PPO 5000 plan. Unlimited office visit coverage with comprehensive prescription coverage.

All of these options are low cost Ohio health insurance plans issued by major reputable companies. There are never any application or enrollment fees and physicals are rarely required.

To instantly view and compare different plans, please click on the “Get Instant Quote” button at the top of the page.

When you think of Ohio 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 most 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.

In most cases, Anthem’s rates tend to be their highest in the Northern portion of the state. The Columbus, Springfield,  Dayton and Cincinnati areas often feature Anthem’s most competitive rates.

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 seems to do as much advertising these days as Billy Mays. 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

Cinergy offers two types of plans. “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 a 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 Cinergy. 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 viewand compare high quality Ohio health plans, please click on the “Get Instant Quote” button at the top of this page. You can get comprehensive coverage without breaking the bank.

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.