Finding low cost health insurance in New Jersey is a challenge that many people are finding almost impossible. In fact, over 16% of all people in New Jersey are without any health coverage and of those who do have health insurance, over 50% admit that paying the premium each month represents a severe hardship.

Every year more and more companies are dropping their group health care coverage, making the situation worse and worse.

Fortunately the situation is not completely hopeless. If you know a few of the tricks of the health insurance trade it is still possible to construct a policy that can provide you the health care protection you need at a price that you can afford to pay.

To begin with, group health insurance is almost always cheaper than individual health care, so if your employer offers group health care coverage it may pay you to buy it. But your employer may not be the only place that you can go to find group coverage.

Often clubs or organizations that you belong to offer group health insurance. Ask friends if any of them belong to groups, clubs or organizations that you could join that offer group health. Even some churches offer a form of group health insurance.

If you have a home-based business ask your insurance agent what it would take for you to qualify for a group health plan. Sometimes all it takes is to have your spouse help out part time and you can qualify. It doesn't hurt to ask.

Don't smoke and don't chew tobacco. If you use any tobacco products your health insurance is going to cost a lot more. If you bought a health insurance policy at a time when you did use tobacco products and you have since quit, talk to your agent because you could be in for a really nice surprise on your monthly premium.

Being overweight also costs you more when you purchase health insurance. Part of your monthly premium will be based on your Body Mass Index, or BMI. No one is minimizing the effort or the difficulty of losing weight, but if you can shed even a few pounds it is possible that you could slip down a rung or two in the BMI scale and that could save you hundreds or even thousands of dollars in insurance premiums over time.

If you engage in extreme sports or if you drive a fast sports car your health insurance is going to cost more. Make changes in your life if you are serious about saving money.

Use credit cards wisely. Your credit rating also affects how much you pay for health insurance. The higher your credit score the lower your monthly health insurance premium will be.

If you have other insurance policies consider combining them all with the same insurance company. Doing so could save you money on your health policy each and every month.

Likewise, if you have been with the same insurance company for at least 5 years make sure you are getting your Long-Term Policy Discount.

What co-payment are you currently making? Is it less than 50%? If so, ask your health insurance agent how much you would save each month if you increased your co-pay to 50% and then run the numbers of your added cost vs. monthly savings for an average year. See if it makes sense to increase your co-pay. This is a particularly good deal for people who seldom visit their doctor.

And what about your deductible? Again you must be careful and you must be totally honest with yourself about how much you can actually afford to pay for your own health care every year, but the simple truth is, the more you can afford to pay before you involve your insurance company - in other words, the higher your deductible - then the less you are going to be asked to pay each month in health insurance premiums.

Take what you've learned from this article and put together a health insurance policy on paper that incorporates as many of the savings features we've just discussed as possible. Next, go online and find 3 different websites that specialize in comparing the cost of health insurance between different insurance companies.

Now compare the cost of the policy you just put together on at least 3 different websites. Once you've done that then your work is completed. All you have to do is to choose the lowest price and you can feel confident that you have done your homework and have compared and found the very best low cost health insurance in New Jersey.