You don't have to be settled down with a family to know that your health is important. Just one accident or illness could set you back hundreds of thousands of dollars and have a lasting impact on your ability to support yourself. Quality of life is something all of us appreciate no matter what our personal circumstances are. For these reasons, having a sound health insurance plan is just as important for the single person as for couples and families.

In many workplaces today, employers usually provide employees with access to some form of health insurance plan. However, there are still many companies that do not offer health insurance coverage. People without this safety net need to ensure they are protected by a comprehensive health insurance plan.

Luckily, you can find individual health insurance plans to suit a range of budgets. This is useful given the risks associated with not having any form of insurance. While you may take care of your health to the best of your ability, there are always unforseen events that can spring up from time to time in the form of accidents, natural disasters and sudden illness. An individual health insurance plan therefore should be viewed as a safety net.

Various groups of people need to consider taking out individual health insurance policies.

One such group is the self-employed. Many self-employed persons act as both employer and employee and an individual health insurance plan is the best option to ensure they are fully covered in the event of accident, emergency and illness. While these people are unable to benefit from group rates, several types of reliable health insurance policy are available to them.

Similarly, employees who work part-time may find themselves ineligible for company sponsored health insurance policies. This is when it becomes crucial to take out an individual policy.

For discharged employees, accepting the loss of their health insurance plan can be as tough as coping with redundancy or discharge itself. While most employers will continue to cover discharged employees under group health insurance policies for a limited time, the day soon arrives when the employee is no longer covered through his work. If he has not found a new position and coverage under another company's group health insurance plan, or if he is not employed at all, he has no other option than to take out an individual health insurance policy.
In these cases, people tend to favor low premium, low cover health insurance plans which provide strictly basic levels of care. This is far from ideal, however any form of health insurance plan is better than none at all. Cheaper plans can help tide a person over until he is working again and hopefully eligible for inclusion in a group health insurance scheme.