1. Have a budget and set realistic expectations. Realize that purpose of insurance is to cover unexpected and otherwise unmanageable expenses. Most good plans cover "ordinary and necessary medical expenses" but not your health club membership. Look for coverage that provides protection but avoid being drawn in by marketing sizzle. Do not buy health insurance with primary intention of picking up cost of your existing ordinary medical expenses like prescriptions, routine dental care and annual check-ups. Health plans exist for almost every budget. Remember that no one is excluded from receiving medical care for an acute condition because of type of their health insurance plan, but rather medical treatment may be denied because they don’t have any insurance coverage at all.

2. Realize that there are trade-offs in every health plan. The lowest priced high quality health insurance plans excluded coverage for pre-existing medical conditions and require periodic re-enrollment. It is often better to take less expensive insurance any pay for small uncovered expenses yourself. But if you need to find “full takeover” coverage, then you cannot expect to be offered insurer’s lowest rating.

But situation changes when we consider more extensive and more costly types of health care. The ability of a patient to obtain top quality medical care for most serious types of health care - things like transplants, extended hospital care, physical rehabilitation, and long term outpatient care - depend more on whether patient has adequate health insurance than any other factor. A simple attack of appendicitis could easily wind up costing more than $25,000. Even an affluent family will have difficulty arranging adequate medical care without insurance coverage. Unfortunately, if you wait until you need this type of care it will be difficult or impossible to buy health insurance that covers these items. Often most immediate insurance concern for young people is fact that most colleges, trade schools, internship programs, sports teams, community-sponsored travel opportunities and many other activities require health insurance as an admission requirement. Without health insurance, you do not pass "go". So there is usually no question about it - most young people with ambitions to advance their education need to have some type of health insurance. Coverage Options There are many types of health insurance plans available to young adults. The most popular plans are listed below. Parent's Policy - Most students continue to be covered under a parent's policy. If this option is available, it is almost always best option. But most health plans require that proof of full-time enrollment be provided. Be aware of maximum age for this benefit. In many cases this coverage will expire when student reaches age 23 (or at another age as stated in insurance policy).

Employer Group Coverage - Most employers provide health insurance to their full time employees and pay for most of cost of this employee benefit. This is called group health coverage. This benefit is completely under control of employer. Many people do not realize that there is no requirement for an employer to provide this benefit. Most group health plans require that new employees wait a few months before becoming eligible for coverage.

School-Sponsored Coverage – These are usually uninsured managed care arrangements to provide care to students in local area of college or university.