Fortunately, there are several steps the average person can take that will help to keep the cost lower - and then there is one big gamble that is available to everyone, one cheap high risk concept that just may be the last hope for many families. But before we get to that let's look at a few things you might be able to do to lower the cost of yours.

Don't smoke and don't use chew. It's hard to convince people that you are serious about lowering the cost with a cigarette between your lips. Smokers simply are not going to get the cheapest rates.

Unfortunately, much the same applies to people who are overweight - and losing weight is even more difficult than quitting smoking for most people. The higher your Body Mass Index (your BMI) the more you are going to pay for health insurance. Again, that's simply a fact of life. Losing even a few pounds can have a profound affect on your premiums, however. If you manage to drop one rung on the insurance company's BMI scale then you could save some serious cash month after month. Every pound counts, so do your best!

Eating healthier and getting a little exercise will also lower the cost of your health. Cut out fast foods as much as possible and eat a few vegetables and fruits every day. Walk around the block a few times each week. Join a group that walks the mall every morning. Ride a bike. In other words, get up off that couch and DO something two or three times each week. You'll feel better, you'll look better - and you'll save money.

If you can afford to increase your co-payment to 50% then you'll pay a lot less for premiums every month. If you don't see a doctor on a regular basis then give this some serious consideration. Upping your deductible will lower your monthly premium. Just don't go overboard and agree to pay a larger deductible than you can actually afford to pay.

If all of this still leaves you short of funds there's one last thing you can do - you can open a Health Savings Account (HSA). This is a tax free savings account that can only be used to pay for health-related items. Part of your HSA account will be a low-cost super-high deductible health insurance.

This super high-deductible health insurance, with a deductible of over $2,000, will not pay for any of your medical treatment in a normal year. The purpose of these policies is to protect your home and other assets if you should have a catastrophic accident or suffer a major illness that results in medical bills in the tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of dollars virtually overnight.

Whether you decide to look into an HSA account or whether you simply want to find a more traditional high risk health policy your next step should be to get online and find several websites that permit quick and easy price comparisons of health insurance from a variety of different companies.

Unfortunately most price comparisons websites only compare prices at a small handful of companies so if you really want to feel confident that you've found the very best price you possible could then you will need to make your comparisons on a minimum of 3 different sites.

In this way you can be assured of seeing prices from all or almost all of the companies operating in your state. The only thing left for you to do is to review all of the prices you've found and then pick the best one. You have now found the very best price you possibly can insurance in your state.