Want a healthy scare? Check out the cost of medical insurance

 

Most of us have no clue what insurance costs the self-employed, or the person without coverage at work.

The Internet can be a frightening place, and I do not mean winning the Miss New Jersey crown and then having your embarrassing photos distributed in cyberspace.

Exactly how scary it can be can be found on a Web site that provides health-insurance quotes, should you be in the market. I tried one, inserting an imaginary family from my ZIP code. My imaginary dad is 39, mom is 37, their son is 12 and their daughter is 7.

The cheapest — cheapest! — policy with a major health-insurance provider for my imaginary neighbor is $808.67 a month. But there's a catch. You have to pay up to 30 percent of any hospital bill, and hospital bills can be a bear. You also have to go to a doctor of the health insurance company's own choosing.

The most expensive of the 12 quotes is $1,909.14 a month. The only catch is the co-payment of $15. The median average is $1,414.63.

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