One dilemma many are facing right now is whether to purchase a private sector health insurance policy or wait and see if/when the government will have an alternative plan available in the next few years?

Here are some things to take into consideration before you decide:

Currently there is no National Health Care program available and the US government is in the very early planning stages. More than likely if ever available it may be no sooner than 2011.

Waiting on a government plan until 2011 could potentially cost you financial ruin or bankruptcy in the meantime.

If/when available this plan may or may not be right for you depending on how much money you make. The early stages of the "what will it cover" seem to indicate the plan will be available at a low cost for low to low to middle income individuals and families. If you are middle class or above this may not be the choice you make at a later, yet to be determined date.

Currently there are restrictions that state if you currently do NOT have health insurance, and in most states, if you have nor had it for more than 63 days you will be subject to a pre-existing condition clause which could leave you without coverage even when you sign up. Again preliminary planning seems to indicate this will continue to be the case even with a government health insurance plan. The main reason for this is to make people sign up for medical insurance BEFORE they get sick, not after. Just think how much car insurance would be if you could sign up after you got in an accident and the insurance company had to pay your claim.

The only answer to this is to buy an affordable health insurance policy NOW, even if it has a $5,000 deductible and is all you can afford. This will serve two purposes:

-Keep you from financial ruin/bankruptcy today
and
-Enable you to have more options later if when a government program is available in addition to a private sector policy.