Looking for a health insurance plan in Minnesota that won’t break the bank? Here’s how to find low-cost health insurance in Minnesota with a company you trust.

Minnesota State Health Insurance

Minnesota has several state-sponsored insurance programs for low-income individuals and families. These include:

* The Minnesota Medical Assistance program, which provides health care to low-income Minnesotans. This program is different from Medicare, which is a federally sponsored program for people age 65 and older and people with disabilities.

* The Minnesota General Assistance Health Care program, which provides health care to low-income Minnesotans who are not eligible for state or federally sponsored health care programs.

* The Minnesota Care Plan, which provides health care to low-income, uninsured Minnesota workers.

For more information about these Minnesota health insurance programs, call your county human services agency or visit the Minnesota Department of Health website at: health.state.mn.us/healthcare.html.

Private Health Insurance

There are two types of health insurance plans available in Minnesota. They are:

* Fee-for-service plans (also known as indemnity plans), which pay for all or most of your doctor’s fees, hospital fees, and prescription drug costs after you pay a deductible (usually $500 to $2,000). These plans allow you to choose your doctor and hospital and are the most expensive of the health plans.

* Managed care plans, including HMOs, PPOs, and POS, that pay for your doctor’s fees, hospital fees, and prescription drug costs after you pay a copay (usually $5 to $10 per doctor visit) . With these plans you are assigned to a network of doctors and hospitals. PPOs and POSs allow you to use an out-of-network doctor or hospital for an additional fee. HMOs are the cheapest of all health plans, followed by PPOs and POSs.

low cost health insurance

To get low-cost health insurance, you need to look at rates. The easiest way to do this is to go online to an insurance comparison website.