Most of us understand the importance of medical coverage not only to maintain our physical health but to protect our family's financial well-being in an emergency. If you are covered under a group plan there are several things to consider before adding a spouse or dependent(s) on to your employer-paid health coverage. In some cases, it makes more financial sense to investigate outside health insurance plans. Before you get an individual health insurance quote, it's important to get all of the facts.

First, let's examine how group health care insurance policies operate. Simply put group policies are employer-paid health coverage. The employee has the option of adding family members on to their existing plan, though sometimes they are required to pick up all or part of the tab. An employer is only obligated to pay for their employees.

As you investigate your coverage under your group plan the first thing to determine is how much the "employer contribution" is for your spouse and dependents to be on the plan. Typically, an employer will cover a minimum of fifty percent of the premium while the employee is responsible for paying the remaining health insurance costs. If the employer contribution is fifty percent there is a good chance adding your family to the group plan would be the most cost effective option. On the other hand, if the employer pays only a small percentage or none of the premium, then it's worthwhile to shop around for a different health insurance quote.

Another thing to consider is the coverage and rates of adding family members to an employer-sponsored plan. Sometimes group rates are higher than separate individual plans because group health insurance plans must cover all employees regardless of their age or health. Additionally, some group plans may offer additional coverage like vision, dental, mental health or life insurance, further raising rates. Therefore in some cases it can cost more to add on family members to group plans than if you were to purchase a separate policy.

When shopping around for individual plans you'll find there are many more options available for individual policy holders who can customize their health care plan to fit their own needs. It's essential to compare dependent and spouse premiums. For instance, under some policies it might be more cost effective to cover just your kids and add your wife on to your existing group plan.

It's important to investigate your group policy's costs and coverage before you shop around for individual insurance quotes. No matter what, make sure you're prepared no matter what comes down the road. Know how individual and group health insurance plans interact for families.