The health insurance market is a murky swamp to traverse. Trying to figure out what the entire population’s average cost of health insurance are is nearly impossible since there are so many different factors that determine the cost of a single person’s premium. We’ll go over some of those factors now to assist you in finding the best premium cost for you.

Your premium will be most affected by the type of health insurance you choose. You can get policies that will be provided by your employer, government funded policies, individual group policies, general health care insurance, policies for women, policies for children, and so on. Each policy will vary in price and will differ again depending on what requirements you need to meet for any given plan.

The second factor that will greatly determine your premium cost will be your age. It is standard that insurance companies will make basic health assumptions based on your age group and if you are older you will usually wind up paying more. If you’re already in failing health or have a pre-existing condition you will likely pay more for your premiums if you can even get insured at all.

It doesn’t seem like it should be much, but your state of residence will be the third major factor in the cost of your policy. Generally speaking, individual health policies and employer provided plans are usually regulated by the state insurance department. Because of the involvement of the state in premium rates you could wind up paying more for your premiums than if you lived in the next state over.

Finally, your premiums will be affected by the type of coverage and benefits you purchase. You will be presented with a wide range of benefits that you can pick and choose from and for each option your rate goes up. Features include things such as comprehensive coverage, fixed limit coverage, prescription drug coverage, etc. You can offset this possible high premium by agreeing to pay for a higher deductible – the higher your deductible the less the insurance company will have to pay for your care and as a result your premium drops because they have to cover less.

In summary, it is absolutely necessary for you to get a look at the state average cost of health insurance for the type of insurance and coverage you want to buy before you settle on what the insurer tells you is a good deal. If your premium quotes are higher than this average cost of health insurance then you may be paying too much whereas if they are lower, you will likely be getting a good deal. Once you have this average and you’ve made sure that you have all the coverage and features you need you will be set!