The choice of health insurance it's a matter you must think about while you review the offers insurance companies have sent you.

The first thing you must consider is whether cover will be provided on an individual basis, with you as the only insured person or, if you want to extend cover to your immediate family, in which case, the requirements will be different.
 

Once you have decided who the insured person or persons will be, one of the factors that will influence your decision about which policy to choose will be the cost of it.

The cost of an insurance policy is calculated using intrinsic and extraneous elements.
 

Intrinsic elements governing the cost of an insurance policy

• Age: Your age will determine how likely you are to become ill. Although you might suffer an illness at any age, the older you are, the more you have to pay for an insurance policy. Some companies might not even accept customers over a certain age. That's why you should take out an insurance policy while you are young, as it's always better to "prevent than cure".

• Gender: gender is another factor that determines the cost of some insurance policies as, for women, the cost of pregnancy and giving birth is covered. In recent years, this type of cover has not affected the cost of some types of insurance policies.

• Geographical area: Cost may vary depending on what geographical area you live in, which means that the province your primary residence is in may be a determining factor.
   

Extraneous elements governing the cost of an insurance policy

• Copayment: this is a small amount of money you pay every time you use your insurance. You can choose to take out an insurance policy with or without copayments. If you subscribe to this option, you will pay a lower monthly or annual fixed instalment in exchange for paying this small amount for each service you use.

• Groups: when cover is granted to a large amount of insured persons as part of a group or collective, the amount paid by each member will be slightly lower.

• Limitation of cover: There's a wide range of cover options you can add to your insurance policy. By choosing fewer cover options, you will pay less. If you limit the amount of services you can use, you also limit the amount you spend and reduce the cost of your insurance policy. Before you decide not to subscribe to certain cover options, go for a health check to find out how likely you are to experience certain conditions in the future.
   

Cost is always important when contracting a service; however, if the service in question is associated with your health, you must also take into account other variables in order to choose the insurance product that best suits your needs.