Health insurance is expensive, and when you find yourself needing some as a college student, you’re going to find that it’s a lot of money per year, but the prevention of some medical bills in the future can be avoided, if you pay as little as $40 a month.

When it comes time to apply for health insurance as a college student, there are a few things that you should look for when you’re looking to apply for a student health plan.

Check with your school - Many colleges today offer some sort of health insurance plan that can be added to your student bill.  Since the college buys a group rate, you can get a pretty good deal, and the insurance packages are usually pretty lucrative.

Explore your options online - There are a lot of third party insurance brokers online.  I like going the online route, because it allows me to search a lot of the options online to see what would work best for me.  With a lot of these sites, you’ll input what you want, along with some information about yourself, and you get quotes instantly.  Some of the websites you may want to try are the following:

• eHealthInsurance
• NetQuote
• InsureMe

Compare prices online – If you check around with these brokers, you’ll find that some vary in pricing, and others work with companies you may have never heard of before.  This is why I encourage you to look at pricing, as well as the company to make sure you pick out the right plan for you.

Look over your policy - Every policy is going to be different, and you want to make sure you know what’s covered.  What is your deductible?  What is it going to cost you with medical visits?  All of these things are going to be important when it comes to your doctor visits.

Medical insurance is extremely important, and you shouldn’t go without it, it’s just plain stupid!  You don’t want to see a $10,000 surgery, and you have to pay it all out of your pocket.  Instead, spend $50-$150 a month, and save yourself from paying a huge medical bill.