What are your options for Fort Lauderdale health insurance? There are plenty of plans available and they go far beyond the old employer-based policies that mushroomed during WWII as a way to lure employees during a tight labor market.

Insurance first came about through Blue Cross in the 1920s. They started largely as local philanthropic endeavors that helped those in need pay for unexpected medical bills. As fees rose and the Great Depression took root, the federal government provided tax incentives for the health insurers to keep costs down and make policies available to more people.

Employer-based policies offered a competitive advantage for employers who were desperate for labor in a temporarily wage-controlled market. This worked well, since many of the civilian laborers were women with young children whose husbands were away at war.

One of the most popular plans around is the HMO. Short for Health Maintenance Organization, the HMO plans can be the most affordable plan around as long as you stay within the HMO\'s network. You save money with HMOs but you lose choice. With PPOs, also known as Preferred Provider Organizations, you have more choices but you\'ll pay slightly more in premiums. If selecting your own provider is important, then a PPO is most likely going to be your best option.

Private premiums can go lower if more consumers take a proactive approach to their overall wellbeing. It means improving one\'s diet, exercising more and taking a more active role in where their health care money goes. Like auto insurance, where safe drivers pay less, privatization can make incentive\'s better.

Health Savings Accounts, or HSAs for short, are one of the best ways for the proactive consumer to manage his or her money. HSAs are an excellent choice because they let the policyholder save money, tax free, for health care expenses. Part of the appeal of the HSA is that it is the deductible is higher, usually around $1000 for individuals, prompting the policyholder to take a more proactive approach to his or her medical decisions.

However, the more the consumers are removed from the consequences of their choices, the more their costs will increase. This is because there is no financial incentive for the insured to reduce their costs. Hopefully with the new administration in office this will change, and we will be forced to live up to the consequences.

Nations that have socialized medicine have nowhere near the quality of health care that the United States has. For instance, in Canada, the wait to get sophisticated tests like MRIs can take many months; in the US, it\'s usually only a few days. In Great Britain, government bureaucrats decide who gets what kind of health care. In one famous case, a man who needed surgery for a broken ankle was denied care because he was a smoker.

Many online resources have countless stories about the horrors of government-run medical facilities, which is why American consumers must take a more active role in controlling their costs. A socialized medical system would immediately take away choice, convenience and quality while driving up the taxpayer-funded costs. This invariably happens in all states that have national medical plans because there is no incentive for improvement when there is no competition.

By contrast, the American system is far superior because of competition. The profit motive helps spur drug makers to make better medicines, hospitals to provide better care and companies to provide better service. While it is true that there are private policies available and medical options in places like Canada, Great Britain and France, they are far more expensive because consumers have to pay twice: once for their substandard socialized medical system and then for the superior quality of a private system.

The media claims of improved cost efficiencies with socialized medicine never consider this. They also do not honestly reveal the facts behind the often-touted figure that millions of people in the US are without coverage. What they fail to tell you is that significant parts of that number are children, illegal aliens and those who chose not to buy coverage. For example, single young adults, who are new to the workforce, often will leave off health insurance as a way of saving money on their entry-level paychecks.

Since competition drives down prices and provides more choices, the best way to get the most for your health care money is to research Fort Lauderdale health insurance plans against one another.