17 percent of all Americans don’t have any kind of health insurance. This report can be trusted because it was issued from the U.S Census Bureau. And this would have been worse if not for group health plans that have made health insurance cheap enough for a good portion of people who have it.

This, regrettably, may soon be a thing of the past as many business owners might soon remove group health insurance from their employment allowance because they’ve become quite tasking on their businesses. The rising cost of health care is the reason for this new development.

The only way left for those who would like to have a health insurance coverage would be to buy individual health insurance. The necessity, therefore, of knowing how to get lower health insurance premiums cannot be stressed enough. let us see proven steps to reduce your individual health insurance costs.

1. Smokers have rates that are twice or more that of non-smokers. It’s not debatable that smoking is the highest known cause of cancer and other terminal diseases.

It costs insurance carriers much more to give health insurance to smokers because of the bad risk they are to them. If you can quit smoking you’ll attract rates that are dramatically more affordable when you reapply after 12 months.

2. Lose weight and your rates will be lower. Your BMI or Body Mass Index is a very important factor in calculating your risk to a health insurance carrier.

A high Body Mass Index will always result in an expensive rate all other things being equal. The more overweight you are for your height and sex the higher your BMI rating will be. Do your best to shed excess weight as dropping even a few pounds could give you another Body Mass Index rating which means cheaper rates.

3. It’s now clearly known that smoking will attract higher rates. What some might not know is that the same also applies if you use any other type of tobacco product. Those who snuff or chew tobacco will also get higher rates than people who don’t

Therefore, you’ll help yourself get cheaper rates if you avoid tobacco use in any form.

4. If you elect to pay your premiums monthly, you will pay higher rates. The ads may show that monthly payments are easy but what you’re not told is how much more you pay for this.

There are transaction fees that are incurred when processing a check. Over the course of a year, your monthly checks would be processed separately because they are all separate transactions. This implies that you will pay transaction fees 12 times.

There are also administrative costs to your insurance provider that result just from taking monthly payments. For example, it costs insurance companies millions of dollars annually to mail payment notices.

These and more are then included in your premium thus making it higher than if you paid every year.

5. Dangerous sports attract higher rates. Therefore stay off any sport or activity that is either extreme or risky and you’ll get cheaper rates.

6. If you drive recklessly then be prepared to pay expensive health insurance rates. If you have many charges on rough driving or a history of street racing you’ll pay much more. This is because you’ll become a greater risk to your health insurance provider.

Improving your driving history and developing a good driving habit will reduce your premium. If you drive a fast muscle car or power bike, you will likely pay a huge sum in health insurance. This is because they are more likely to make you need medical attention because they have a higher risk of accidents.

7. Those whose vocations expose to hazards attract higher premiums. You’ll get more affordable rates if you quit a hazardous vocation for a safe one. Since a salesperson in a supermarket isn’t exposed to any health risks like a nuclear plant staff, he or she would attract less expensive rates.

8. How much do you want to contribute to payments for your visits to a doctor? This is your co-pay. The higher the amount you choose as your co-pay, the more affordable your premium will be. If you hardly ever go to see a doctor, you should make much savings by opting for a high co-pay.

9. You’ll pay less for a group plan than otherwise. So for those who have the opportunity of using a group plan, it gives you an the avenue of paying lower rates than otherwise.. This should be of particular interest to older persons, smokers or obese persons who typically have to pay expensive premiums.

This is also true of those who have health conditions that get very high rates. Give a group plan careful thought if you are after cheaper premium.