So many Texas health insurance consumers dread the yearly ritual of shopping their families insurance needs. Look, I know the feeling but there are some simple steeps to make the task more tolerable.

First off, be extremely careful if you have made the decision to do it on your own by just plugging in a few keywords and produce a google search. Most health insurance websites list the cheapest plan options that a company offers. Almost every Texas health insurance company has what we in the business call the "dog" policy. These versions of coverage limit some critical elements that unsuspecting consumers just assume are covered. You can expect limits on important services like doctor visits and out patient treatment to be the norm on these policies. Just watch your step.

A good rule of thumb that most Texas health insurance brokers use is the word choices the insurance companies use for describing their coverage. These limited policies most often times use words like "saver plan" or "right start" as Assurant Health uses. These policies are nothing short of a rip off in my opinion due to the limits.

Other important language to be observant for lies in the basin plan description. I feel all Texas consumers should purchase what's called a "major medical" policy. Although there may be a few small limits they offer consumers far and away the greatest form of protection. I advise my clients to never purchase policies residing in the "limited benefit" or "hospital surgical" policies. You can find what type of health policy you have by reviewing the actual outline of coverage, also, sometimes the plan definition can be found on either the front or back of the brochure the agent has provided you but not always.

I personally feel that laws should be put in place to eliminate these policies from the Texas health insurance landscape but with the chokehold insurance companies have on the Texas legislature. So until we as consumers are offered the protection of adequate coverage either work with an established broker that does not offer limited benefit policies or if doing the research yourself, read and research the facts before you click the magic apply button.