1. How much are you willing to contribute to payments for your visits to your doctor? This is your co-pay. Your health insurance rate will be lower if you choose a higher co-pay. If you hardly ever need to see a doctor, you may save a lot by choosing a high co-pay.

2. Your co-pay can be more than your drug cost in a number of situations. There are also situations where it will cost you less if you do not use your insurance but buy a prescription out of your own pocket. Do whichever gives you more savings.

3. More flexibility in your choice of health care providers will help you get better health insurance rates. This is because you may have to restrict yourself to doctors and hospitals within a particular network. You'd have to stop using your favorite doctor if he or she isn't part of the network.

It would be easier for you to get better health insurance rates if you can make such adjustments. Although you're advised to be flexible, make sure you also get what will serve your best interest on the long run.

4. You will reduce your health insurance rates by a huge margin if you take out time to do extensive and thorough shopping. You'll start your shopping right if you start asking friends about their experience with health insurance providers.

You'll be cutting through hype from people who want commissions to users' experiences this way. You can count on your friend to tell you their experience the way it was whether good or bad. If you ask your friends and acquaintances you'll make it less likely that you'll fall into the wrong hands.

5. You can get savings of hundreds of dollars on your health insurance policy by requesting for (and comparing) quotes from quote sites.

Using a minimum of three quotes sites increase the chances that you would make bigger savings. The simple logic in this is that you'll receive many more quotes from many more insurers. This provides you a broader basis for doing better comparisons thereby increasing your chances of realizing more savings.