South Dakota Health Insurance | Affordable Health Insurance SD

Affordable South Dakota Health Insurance
Finding Health Insurance in the Country’s 20th Healthiest State

Why Look for Health Insurance?

There are several reasons why we look for health insurance. It could be because we lost our job and although we have retained the health insurance coverage from our previous employed but the monthly premium is too expensive for us to pay along or if we are simply unable to afford health insurance, and for anything along the lines of the need to have health insurance coverage.

§ If you had a change in employer or you simply lost/quit your job, federal law gives you the privilege to retain the health insurance policy that you had with your previous employer. This is important especially for people who have dependents with serious health conditions acquired after the application of the policy. Most insurance companies would either refuse or charge extra for people with high health risk or serious health conditions. COBRA or the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act gives an individual the right for temporary continuation of his health insurance coverage, the opportunity to have the same group rate, and retain his beneficiaries for the whole duration of the coverage.
§ If you had a recent change in your family status, e.g. you started working so this makes you ineligible for your parents’ work health insurance, you could still continue your coverage for 36 months while looking for a good health insurance plan with the help of COBRA. But similar to the employment case, the premium can be very expensive since the premium is paid in full. This is also the same case with legal separation, divorce, death of partner or any change that attributes to losing a dependent status.
§ If you simply can’t afford private insurance or you have a serious medical condition which calls for very a high premium, the government provides alternatives like Medicaid and other state-provided health insurance plans. Some states offer risk pool that provides help to those who are classified as “uninsurable” due to a serious health condition. Fortunately enough, South Dakota has a risk pool.

South Dakota Health Facts

South Dakota remain to be the 20th healthiest state according the America’s Health Ranking 2009 of the United Health Foundation. The state has a low ratio of infectious disease at 5 cases per 100,000 of the population 81 percent of children ages 19 to 35 months are completely immunized. The rate of deaths due to cardiovascular diseases had decreased from 296 to 257 deaths per 100,000 of the population, a 13 percent improvement. The higher health determinants compared to health outcomes also indicates better health conditions in the state in the coming years. On the other hand, obesity remains to be the state’s fastest rising health determinant at 28 percent of the population, a continuous climb-trending from 1990’s 11 percent. Binge drinking and alcoholism is also high at 17.6 of the population. Here are a few health insurance companies to get started in finding the best health insurance deal.