Let's start with the hard choices first: Stop smoking and lose weight.

Neither of those things is easy to do, but if you're serious about finding low cost health insurance then you are definitely going to have to quit smoking and stop using chew or any other tobacco product. There's no way to do this half-hearted - you simply must quit.

Losing weight is a different story. Losing weight is more difficult for most people than quitting smoking. The problem is, a large portion of your monthly health insurance premium is based on your BMI (Body Mass Index). This is a politically correct way of talking about fat. There is one ray of good news - if you can lose even a little of your excess fat you may be able to slip down one rung on your insurance company's BMI scale - and if you manage to do that you could save potentially hundreds of dollars each year on your health insurance.

Find a group health insurance plan. There are two reasons you are better off with a group health insurance plan: one, it will be cheaper than an individual plan and, two, a group plan may give you more leeway when it comes to smoking and weight.

If your place of employment doesn't offer group health insurance ask around at any clubs or organizations or associations that you belong to. You'd be surprised at the groups that offer their members group health insurance. If you don't belong to any organizations that offer group health insurance ask your friends and relatives if they do - and if so, join!

If you run a home-based business it's possible your business could qualify for group rates even if your only employee is a spouse. Even if your business doesn't qualify for group rates, talk to your tax advisor; it's very possible that a portion on your health insurance could be tax deductible and a tax deduction could make your insurance more affordable.

An HMO or a PPO will provide health insurance at a savings over most individual health insurance, but be prepared for the possibility of giving up your favorite doctor - unless he or she just happens to be a member of the HMO or PPO you're looking into.

Keep your credit record clean. Believe it or not you'll pay less for your health insurance the higher your credit score is.

Start living a healthier lifestyle. That means cutting the fast food and the fried food way down, and it means getting at least a little exercise every single day. Exercise doesn't necessarily mean jogging or going to a gym. Exercise can be something as simple as a brisk walk around the block or through your neighborhood park.

Can you increase your co-payments? If you can afford to increase your co-pays to 50% every time you visit your doctor you'll cut way down on your health insurance costs. Of course, this means you'll pay more each time you see your doctor, but if you don't see your doctor on a regular basis this can be a great way to save money every month.

What about your deductible? Can you afford to increase your deductible? If you can that will decrease the amount you pay for your health insurance each month almost immediately - but keep in mind that your deductible is an amount that you must pay each month out of your own pocket for your health care before your insurance company begins contributing. Don't make any financial promises you can afford to keep.

Finally, find 3 websites that let you compare the prices of health care policies in Massachusetts from different insurance companies. Using the information you have gathered from this article fill out forms on 3 different websites - being careful to put the exact same information into all 3 forms. In this way your comparisons actually mean something.

And that's it. Once you have the results from all three websites all that's left is for you to choose the lowest price and you're done! This is how you compare low cost health insurance in Massachusetts and come out smelling like a rose!