You are not alone. With all the debate about health insurance, it is still hard to know where to turn. Sure, you know how to sign up for the insurance offered by your employer but what if you want to be one of those self starters that get this economy going? What then? What if you get laid off?

COBRA is still available if you get laid off as long as your employer is still in business. The new law did not change that. Under COBRA you will continue to have the health insurance coverage you had before except now you have to pay for the portion of the health insurance that your employer paid for before as well as continue to pay for your portion. For an individual this will range from $350 to $500 per month, for a family expect to pay around $1000 per month. Not cheap but if you need insurance, especially if one of your family members has a preexisting condition, that may be your best option.

COBRA is one of the few ways not to lose continuous coverage when you are forced to find a new health insurance. If you get laid off while being treated for an illness, COBRA will keep paying for the treatment and when you apply for new insurance, you will be considered as having had continuous coverage which can eliminate the one year wait for coverage. This can make a huge difference if you require continuing treatment.

The average monthly cost for health insurance varies depending on the deductibles you elect and the comprehensiveness of the coverage. The higher the deductibles and co-payments, the higher your out of pocket expenses will be. Even though you can never predict the future based on the past you can look at trends. Take a look at your doctor visits and illnesses for the past three or four years. Has the frequency increased? If so, why? Is this an ongoing problem or was that a one time fluke? You should be able to get a feel for your relative level of health and how you use doctors. Every family is slightly different. I know families that head to the doctor the instant someone coughs. I tend to be less motivated to visit my doctor unless I know the problem will not go away without treatment.

When I did the analysis for my own family, I discovered that the cost of dental care and vision care such as exams and contacts cost us a lot more than the few medical emergencies we had over the past years. So for us a high deductible works well. You may find that for your family a ppo would work better. The preferred provider organizations usually have low co-payments for each doctor visit but your deductibles are not that high. Contrary to what you may think, they generally cover at least a portion of your cost if you should need to visit a doctor outside of the network your ppo has established.

You can also lower your average monthly cost for health insurance by subscribing to discount plans or prescription plans if you are at a stage where most of your expenses come from medications. If you were looking for immediate changes from the passage of the new health care bill, you will be disappointed. Many of the changes won’t go into effect until 2014. In the meantime, analyze your situation and make use of what is out there today.

I found the flexible health savings account offered by my employer to be useful in lowering my monthly health care costs. I take a low estimate of my average annual expenses and have that amount deposited in my account with pre-tax dollars. I highly recommend going with a low estimate since that money disappears at the end of each year whether you spent it or not. I abhor throwing my money away, don’t you?