I've been a health insurance agent since 1985. I help Connecticut residents find health insurance and have for the last several years have also managed a website that helps people in other states including Florida find health insurance. You can find a health insurance broker in Florida by requesting quotes through my site.

Health Insurance Plans of Florida -- Tips to Help You Pick the Right Policy

Choosing the best health insurance plan involves the following:

Finding a policy with or without using a health insurance broker in Florida who can offer you the lowest cost (but only with respect to the other two criteria)

Finding one of the health insurance plans of Florida that has a network that meets your needs

Finding the Florida health insurance plan with coverage that meets your needs

Choosing the right medical insurance policy involves finding the best rate quote amongst the Florida health insurance plans that meet your needs as to network and coverage. Choosing the lowest price is of course very easy. Determining whether the health insurance plan's network of doctors meets your needs is only a little more difficult. Choosing a health insurance policy that covers you well can be complex. You may want to enlist the aid of a licensed health insurance broker in Florida. Most of this article focuses on the basics of determining how well a policy covers you.

In a perfect world, everyone would read and understand their insurance policies. However, I realize that many people will find a health insurance broker in Florida that they feel comfortable with and will want his or her recommendations. However, whether you use a broker or not, I strongly recommend that you contact the Florida office of Insurance Regulation in Tallahassee, FL (850) 413-3140 and make sure that any health insurance plan is approved by them. Insurance Departments cannot ensure that you get the best policy for your individual needs, but they do their best to make sure that each health insurance plan and each health insurance broker meets certain minimum standards. Be sure to work with companies and brokers that are in good standing.

Choosing the Florida Health Insurance Plan with the Right Network

Health insurance carriers usually have websites that will list the MDs and medical facilities that accept their plans. All that I'm aware of will have a printed list that they can mail to you. The right plan will have your physician on their list or at least physicians who are located a convenient distance from your home. If you travel it is important to find a plan that covers you well in other geographic areas as well.

Choosing the Florida Health Insurance Plan with the best coverage for you

Health insurance policies may be the most complex of the insurance contracts offered to individuals and families. Understanding how your medical plan will pay for your medical bills can be difficult. Fortunately most of the brochures and outlines of coverage that you may receive from a health insurance provider will have a similar structure. They will have sections similar to the following:

What is Covered?

Health Plan Exclusions and Limitations

What is Covered?

This section will detail what medical procedures your health insurance policy will cover. The policy should have a phrase like "reasonable and customary" or "usual, reasonable and customary" or something similar when describing how much they will cover.

Watch out for health insurance policies with:

Monetary limits for each procedure

A long list of procedures that the medical insurance policy will cover

Better health insurance policies will not list dollar amounts for each procedure. They will pay using a formula that is based on what other physicians and hospitals will charge you in the same geographic area. A phrase like "usual and customary" indicates that they use such a formula. The cost of medical care rises so quickly that a dollar amount that seems impressive today may not fully reimburse you even a year from now.

Solid health Insurance policies will not have a long list of procedures that they will cover listed on the policy. The long list seems impressive because the list takes up a lot of space. Look at the statements below. It should be easy to choose between one and two.

"Our health insurance plan will cover you for everything except for expenses caused by self-inflicted injuries and substance abuse." ("I've been to every city in Florida except Orlando.")

"Our health insurance policy will cover your nose, your ears, your toes, your hands, your right lung, your calf and your knee" ("I've been to Orlando, Miami, Jacksonville, Tampa and Miami Beach")

Health Plan Exclusions and Limitations

This section will tell you what is excluded. Typically plastic surgery will not be covered. Also experimental procedures and expenses caused by self-inflicted injuries will not be covered. You should understand each of these limitations before you commit to a policy. Most policies will not include maternity insurance, so if you want to get pregnant, make sure that you know how your policy will cover maternity expenses. Unfortunately, maternity insurance is not available in many states except as part of a group insurance plan.

To summarize:

Determine what health insurance plans will cover you in your area

Determine which health insurance plans offer adequate coverage

Choose the plans that offers the best value based on price and coverage

The health insurance options Orlando residents have are similar to the health insurance options Miami residents have, since the plans will work in similar ways throughout the state.

This article can be copied and reprinted but only in its entirety and with the links intact. The article was originally published on The article starts with the heading "Hospitalization Only Insurance" and ends with this sentence.