HealthInsurance.net Review – Get Affordable Heath Insurance Quotes All in One Place
BY: Jolene Latimer | December 11, 2020
Need to find new health insurance? HealthInsurance.net could help you with that. The online service is built on offering free quotes, instantly from many of the nation’s leading health care insurers. But, how can you be sure that HealthInsurance.net is worth your time and not setting you up to get scammed? Below, I’ll walk you through everything you need to know about using HealthInsurance.net to start reviewing health care insurance policies.
What is HealthInsurance.net?
What originally started as a solution to help compare life insurance policies has grown into the insurance comparison heavyweight known as HealthInsurance.net, whose mission is to use data science and personal, qualitative metrics to improve insurance for everyone. HealthInsurance.net is a health insurance marketplace that allows you to sign in to their website, or call their hotline, to receive personalized health insurance recommendations from accredited insurance agents. You can also complete your application for individual health insurance for insurance online or over the phone.
How does HealthInsurance.net work?
Not sure how to use HealthInsurance.net to review insurance companies and get health coverage? Here’s how the process works.
Navigate to health insurance options
HealthInsurance.net offers free quotes for a variety of insurance types, like life insurance or home insurance. Since you’re looking for health insurance quotes you’ll want to first select health insurance from their home page. Then, you’ll have to choose between an “ACA Plan” and “Short-Term Options.”
If you select ACA Plan...
An “ACA Plan” stands for the Affordable Care Act, also referred to as Obamacare. Select ACA Plan if this is what you’re looking for.
You’ll then get a redirection notice, select “See ACA Plans.”
You’ll then be redirected to a new page where you have to input your name, contact information and zip code to view plans and prices. Note that when you submit your information you are consenting to be contacting by an HealthInsurance.net agent about enrolling in a health insurance plan.
If you select Short-Term Options…
If you’re not looking to enroll in affordable care act plans but instead need short term coverage you’ll end up following a path on the website. First, you’ll want to select “Short-Term Options.”
You’ll have to input your zip code and select the county you live in. HealthInsurance.net doesn’t provide information on short term options for the entire country. Once your location is verified, you’ll then have to decide when you need your insurance by.
HealthInsurance.net will then ask for your income, gender and date of birth and whether or not you’ve smoked tobacco products in the last 12 months. After that, you’ll have to select whether or not you’ll include a spouse on your health insurance plan. You will also have to answer the same question about any children. With each person you add to your plan you will have to answer similar questions about age and gender.
You will then have to indicate whether you weigh over 275 pounds and if you have an pre-existing conditions or have been treated for a major medical condition in the last five years. Here are some examples of pre-existing conditions, although this is not an exhaustive list:
- Insulin-dependent diabetes
- Stroke
- Cancer or tumor, except basal-cell skin cancer
- Crohn’s disease
- Rheumatoid arthritis
- Systemic lupus
- COPD
- Hepatitis C
- Multiple Sclerosis
- Bipolar disorder or schizophrenia
- Eating disorder
After indicating your pre-existing conditions you’ll have to answer one more health question — are you pregnant. Following that, you’ll input your contact information to receive your health insurance quotes.
Remember that when you provide your contact information to view your quotes you’re also consenting to receive marketing communications from HealthInsurance.net, which could include phone calls, emails and text messages. The fine print also states that HealthInsurance.net partner companies can contact you regarding quotes. Keep in mind that HealthInsurance.net has over 50 partners — you might not want to provide your contact info to so many insurers, especially if their marketing practices aren’t transparent.
Understanding health insurance
There are four distinct health care plans offered by ACA, or Healthcare.gov.
- EPO Plans. Standing for Exclusive Provider Organization, this is a managed care plan that requires you use doctors and specialists in its network.
- HMO Plans. Standing for Health Maintenance Organization, these plans limit coverage to the doctors and specialists in the HMO marketplace.
- POS Plans. Standing for Point of Service, this is a plan that helps you pay less if you use providers in the network and will charge you more for out-of-network providers. You can only see those with a referral.
- PPO Plans. Standing for Preferred Provider Organization, this is similar to a POS but you do not need a referral to see an out-of-network specialist.
All plans cover preventive wellness visits.
Healthcare.gov also provides a Health Savings Account (HSA) that saves untaxed dollars for medical expenses, thereby giving you tax-free coverage for co-pays, prescription drugs, and other medical out-of-pocket medical expenses. They also provide reimbursement from the account if you pay for something with your own credit card.
These have an open enrollment period and you have to determine how much you think you will spend in a calendar year. Go over and you just have to pay for things with tax. Go under and you could lose your funds.
How much does HealthInsurance.net cost?
HealthInsurance.net is a completely free service to help you compare insurance quotes. There are no upfront costs to the service and they don’t ask for your billing information at any point in the purchase process. Once you submit your information, you’ll receive quotes from their insurance partners. After choosing a quote, you’ll then provide payment details to obtain your health insurance coverage.
HealthInsurance.net features
What’s so special about HealthInsurance.net? Here’s why consumers like to shop for health insurance using their platform.
Not a scam
When it comes to health insurance, sometimes it can be hard to determine what’s a scam and what health insurance providers are legitimate. HealthInsurance.net under Assurance has 4.7 stars through Trustpilot, so that should give some confidence that their partners aren’t scammers.
Source many quotes at once
Using an insurance marketplace like HealthInsurance.net can cut down on the confusion and the amount of time it takes to find a health insurance quote that fits your budget.
Browse online or call
If you’d prefer to talk to a person about your health insurance coverage options, you can opt to call HealthInsurance.net instead at 844-334-1948 and a licensed agent will assist you in reviewing offers and making an application. It's nice they provide both a phone number to a real person and online options.
Who is HealthInsurance.net best for?
Trying to decide if HealthInsurance.net is best for you? Here are some scenarios in which people are likely to benefit from the service.
If you need multiple policies
Looking for more than just health insurance? Through HealthInsurance.net you can review policies for multiple types of insurance such as pet insurance, auto insurance, life insurance and home insurance. Get all your insurance shopping done in the same place to save time and potentially get discounts on insurance by bundling policies with the same insurer.
If you want to buy online
HealthInsurance.net offers many insurance policies that are available for purchase online. Once you receive your quotes online you also have the option to apply digitally. If you prefer a streamlined approach, HealthInsurance.net could be right for you.
If you’re in a hurry to get coverage
Not only can you source quotes and apply online, but HealthInsurance.net works to get most customers covered within 24 hours. If you’re in a time crunch to obtain health insurance, this could be one of the most convenient ways to select your coverage.
Who shouldn’t use HealthInsurance.net?
HealthInsurance.net isn’t the right digital marketplace for everyone. Here are some circumstances that could turn people off.
If you want transparency on how your personal information will be used
Before receiving quotes with HealthInsurance.net you’ll need to hand over your personal contact information and consent to being contacted through phone, SMS and email by HealthInsurance.net and their numerous partners. HealthInsurance.net isn’t clear about how to opt-out from receiving messages from their partners, which could present a problem, especially if you are careful with your data and personal information.
If you’re just looking for a list of insurers in your area
If you’d prefer to reach out to insurers directly for quotes, there are other websites you can use to obtain a list of insurers in your area. For example, Insurance.com will list all insurers in your zip code with point form information about each one. You can then decide which insurers to give your personal information to if you’d like to move forward with a quote.
Pros & cons
Need to compare the advantages and disadvantages of HealthInsurance.net? You’ve come to the right place. Here they are, summarized.
Pros
- Compare rates in one place: Cut down your shopping time by comparing all your rates at once.
- Apply and purchase online: If you like to do everything digitally, Assurance makes that easy.
- Get coverage fast: HealthInsurance.net tries to get you covered as soon as possible, in most cases they are able to help people obtain insurance coverage within 24 hours.
Cons
- Unclear data policy: HealthInsurance.net doesn’t say how often their many partners will contact you with offers, or how to opt-out. They require you to consent to contact from their partners before they will show you rates.
- Many upfront questions: If you’re looking for short term coverage you’ll have to answer many personal questions about your health and income before seeing possible providers.
FAQs
Got questions about health insurance coverage? Here are answers to the most common queries.
What are the two major types of health insurance?
In the United States you can get public health insurance, which is provided through the government if you qualify — think Medicare. Or, you can get private health insurance — which is provided through your employer or purchased individually via a marketplace.
How do I choose a health insurance plan?
To choose your health insurance, you’ll first need to understand when to enroll— and where. Then, review your options. Compare monthly premiums and added costs such as copays before dedication on a plan that matches your values and will help you best look after your individual health and financial needs.
How can I get low-cost health insurance?
To reduce your health insurance costs you can try reviewing your coverage— can you get away with less coverage or different coverage? Compare rates online, looking for discounts with health care companies. Also, ask about ways to receive additional discounts on your quoted rate such as by paying annually or signing up for automatic payments.
The bottom line
Comparing quotes online for health insurance coverage is a smart way to shop, especially if you want to get the best quote in a short amount of time. However, be smart about who you are giving your personal information to. Make sure the data policy of the website you are working with is in line with your values so you don’t have to deal with any unnecessary headaches — like spam calls — in the future.