Selecting a health insurance plan is one of the toughest things that you need to do in your daily life and yet one of the most important things that you can do for yourself. You want to make a smart decision that won’t cost you more than you can afford monthly and yet still adequately protects you. The following tips can assist you in choosing the right health insurance plan:

• Figure out what your priorities are before you start shopping around. You need to know what you are looking for. Some of the leading things that people want include low deductibles, low monthly rates, the option to choose their own doctors, prescription coverage and mental health coverage. Make a list of the top five priorities that you have and rank them so that you know exactly what you’re looking for.
• Create a spreadsheet highlighting those priorities. You can fill in the spreadsheet as you start to compare different health insurance plans. This will give you an easy-to-read chart of how well each plan meets the priorities that you have identified as important to you.
• Check out the insurance page for your state. The state government should provide information about health insurance options, rules and deals in your state. It’s worth it to take a look at this site before proceeding with making a decision about where to get your health insurance coverage.
• Take your own health issues into consideration. Do you have a family with young children? You’re a lot more likely to need to visit the ER than if you’re a single young professional. Do you have a long genetic history of family diseases? You may want to get more coverage than someone with a healthy family. Think these things through carefully to help you decide how much health insurance coverage makes sense for you as a unique individual.
• Compare your health insurance options with the options your spouse has. If you’re getting a plan together then it’s worth it to figure out who has the better coverage options. Also consider who has the more stable job.
• Do a worst-case-scenario calculation. Figure out what the worst case scenario would be (for example, if you had to go to the hospital and were sick long term). Calculate the approximate cost for each plan if that worst case happens. This gives you a good picture of how much each plan will help you.
• Make sure that your budget can handle the monthly payments. You don’t want to get more health insurance than you can reasonably afford even though it does protect you. You need to be able to make those monthly payments. Work this into your household budget before moving forward with getting a plan.
• Consider getting help from a health insurance broker. This is someone who is there to help you make a decision about the right health insurance plan for you. It is an unbiased individual that you pay to give you good advice as you sort through your options. This person is a terrific resource for getting all of your health insurance questions answered. The value of this type of help is immense.
• Get help from your employer. If you are getting health insurance through your company then human resources may be able to help you understand what the company is offering. At the very least they should have literature from the insurance company for you to read.
• Request a “free look”. This term refers to the option to end your new policy and get a refund if you aren’t happy with it. This typically lasts 30 or 60 days although it varies from company to company. It often isn’t automatic in your policy; it’s something that you need to ask for if you want it. This allows you to easily change your mind if you decide that you’ve made a bad health insurance selection.
• Read the fine print. It is boring and detailed but it is well worth it to know exactly what your health insurance requires of you and offers to you.
• Remember that health insurance is changing a lot in the next few years. By 2014 there will be a lot of new rules in place thanks to the changes approved by the Obama administration. Make sure to stay abreast of those changes in case the changes benefit you.

Sujan is the owner of Insurance Quotes. You can follow him on Twitter @sujanpatel