What do Zac Effron, Lindsay Lohan, and Julianne Hough have in common?

They’re all young, hot, healthy – and they unexpectedly went under the knife to have their appendix removed!

Since they’re also famous and totally loaded – health insurance was likely not an issue. I’m sure these celebrities didn’t blink an eye at the hospital bill, which according to Blue Cross will run just under $50,000.

But Could You Afford That?

If you think being young and healthy means you don’t need health insurance, think again.

Even if your appendix is safe from spontaneous combustion, what would have happened if you took a dive off that table you were dancing on last weekend and busted your knee?

Knee surgery and aftercare would run you a cool $48,302 according to the blue cross.

Just because you had a good year and didn’t get sick enough to wind up at the emergency room this year, doesn’t mean you won’t land there next year.

Bottom line: if you should fall ill and require surgery, you’ll be faced with tens of thousands in medical bills.

If regular doctor visits aren’t a priority and you don’t even know the meaning of preventative care – then at least get yourself covered for the BIG stuff that could (and actually might) happen.

Get a high deductible health insurance plan. These usually have low premiums, and the money you save on the monthly payment will help you pay out of pocket costs if something should happen.

The way it works is you choose a large out-of-pocket amount that you would pay before the insurance kicks in. This is called a deductible. Typically, the higher the deductible, the lower your monthly premium.

If you got really sick or were injured and required surgery, you would at least have SOME coverage protecting you from the massive bills I mentioned earlier.

You Don’t Have to Pay an Arm and a Leg!

You need to shop around for a health insurance plan. Even for the same coverage, rates for health plans can be really different from company to company – by as much as 50%.

So needless to say you can’t just pick the first one you find. If you want to save some cash, you need to shop around for quotes.

Here’s what you do:

• Go to a large, trusted, unbiased quote site like insurancerates.com and compare plans.
• Don’t just go by the price you’ll pay each month!
• Check to see what is and isn’t covered. Take a look at the level of coverage from one plan to the next – it’ll give you a whole new perspective on that monthly premium.
• Look at the different deductibles and make sure you will be able to cover it if something big happens.
• Pay attention to your “coinsurance.” This is the percentage of the bill you might still be responsible for even AFTER you’ve met your deductible. When you see something like 80/20 – that means the insurance company will only pay 80% of the bill and you’ll have to fork over the additional 20%.

So don’t be fooled by the cheap monthly premium – The cheapest plans have the highest deductible and the largest coinsurance percentage; the more expensive plans have lower deductibles and lower coinsurance percentages.

Your goal is to shop around for the best deal in between. Also take a look at the lifetime maximum benefit and be sure it is AT LEAST $1 Million – that may sound like a lot of money… but if you end up getting REALLY sick, the cost of a bad illness (like cancer for example) will quickly make that limit look tiny.

Don’t get caught by a sick surprise – go to InsWeb.com and get free health insurance quotes.