Few people enjoy paying for health care. In fact, more than 50% of all people who have health care in New Jersey report that the cost of health care is a significant financial burden on their household. Health insurance has gotten so expensive that fully 17% of all New Jersey residents are without health insurance of any kind due primarily to cost.

So what can be done about the high cost of health insurance? Is it even possible to save money and get discount health insurance in New Jersey?

Well, actually there are a few things the average person can do to help bring the cost of health care insurance back in line.

If you have the opportunity to purchase group health insurance through your employer or through an association or organization that you belong to, you should seriously consider purchasing it. There are at least two reasons for this. First, group health insurance is almost always less expensive than individual health insurance and, secondly, group health insurance will often accept a person with a pre-existing condition that an individual policy will not.

So what are some of the things you can do to put together a health insurance policy that will save you the most money?

Start by getting all tobacco products out of your life. Smokers and people who use chew are going to pay more for health insurance. Period. By the way, never lie about your use of tobacco products in order to get insurance - your health provider will know instantly that you have lied and your insurance may refuse to pay for treatments you have already received.

If you are overweight you are going to pay more for health insurance. Losing weight is more difficult that quitting smoking for most people, yet being overweight is a prime reason that so many people pay through the nose for their health insurance. If you want to lower your cost of health insurance you need to lose at least some weight - losing even a little weight can bump you down into a lower weight category and that could save you hundreds of dollars each and every year.

Children under the age of 18 and some adults who meet certain income eligibility standards can qualify for low-cost or sometimes even no-cost health insurance through the state of New Jersey. Qualifying is easier than you think. To see if you or your children qualify for this health insurance please check out: http://www.njfamilycare.org/

How much of a co-payment can you afford? Many people are paying a 20% or 25% co-pay each time they visit a doctor. If you can afford to increase that co-pay to 50% you can lower the monthly cost of your health insurance by a substantial amount. This is a particularly good strategy for people who seldom see their doctor.

If you have other insurance policies, such as a homeowner's policy or a life insurance policy it can pay you to get all of them from the same insurance company. This will earn you a Multi-Policy Discount.

If you've had a health insurance policy through the same insurance company for at least 5 years ask your agent if you qualify for a Long-Term Policy Discount.

How large of a deductible can you afford each year? Think carefully about this because you are going to have to come up with your deductible out of your own pocket every year before your insurance company will even begin to make any medical payments, but the larger your deductible the lower your monthly premium payment is going to be.

O.K., now put it all together. Create your low-price dream health insurance policy and then go online and find at least 3 different websites that will allow you to compare the price of your dream policy at several different insurance companies.

Don't stop after making just one comparison. If you really want to find the absolute rock-bottom low price for health insurance in New Jersey you're going to have to make your comparisons on at least 3 different websites.

Once you've done that then you can pick the lowest quote and feel confident that you have found the very best price and that you have truly saved money and gotten discount health insurance in New Jersey.