Who can buy individual health care insurance?

Anyone can buy individual healthcare insurance. One can purchase individual healthcare insurance from several online sites such as Aetna, Cigna, and United Healthcare.

While the forgoing is true, there are many smaller companies, whose names may not be as familiar, that also sell such policies. You must, however, be very sure that you deal only with an authorized insurer. This means that the insurer is licensed to transact insurance in the state where the policy is issued. The importance lies in the fact that the state insurance regulator oversees the financial strength of the insurer. The starting point for doing this is by contacting the state insurance regulator to ensure that the insurer is an authorized one. Also be sure to verify that the agent or broker selling the policy is a licensed life and health agent in the state where the policy will be sold. Verification can also be obtained of this through the state regulatory authority.

If cost is a factor, you may want to consider a managed care entity rather than an indemnity insurer. There are a great many of these--some indemnity insurers offer managed care plans. They are regulated much like indemnity insurers--but you should still check on licensure. There are various managed care options, differing mainly in the amount of "choice" of physicians allowed. Managed care plans stress preventive care, and many are less costly, on a monthly basis, than indemnity plans.