Which health insurance company should I go with is a question I get asked a lot.

And the honest answer is I haven’t the foggiest.

Here’s why.

In most cases, I know very little about all the medical issues in a family. I don’t know if my client’s teenage son has a pot habit or if his daughter is a gymnast that has a tendency to occasionally place her foot back to front.

Here is what I do know. Like any insurance, there are a lot of companies. And it is expensive. Over the years my premiums have skyrocketed. I bet yours has too. And with health costs going up and hospitals encouraging patients to go private I expect it go up even more as the years go by.

So what to do?

Well, you can prepay it at old prices but let’s be honest not many can do that.

The thing most people need to good hospital cover. So, make sure you have that.

The next best thing is to review your coverage. It is amazing what you find when you look at the cover. My policy said my family was covered for pregnancy. Now with 2 teenage boys, the last thing Heena and I need is a screaming baby ruining my sleep and what’s left of my working heart. In other words, do you need some of the things you are covered for? Some of the extras all sound great but do you use it? Most are not used so best to get rid of them as they can make a big difference to your premium.

If you do not believe me, try this. Phone your health insurance company and ask them to give you a quote for just hospital cover. It could either ruin or make your day.

But the best thing you can do is to avoid the comparative websites except one. Why? Well, the comparative websites don’t cover the whole market. The only website that does is privatehealth.gov.au.

It’s a government website. I know. I am not a fan of government websites but this one is surprisingly good. It allows you to compare your current policy against others. Most importantly, it compares every fund on offer.

So if you want to get one up on your health insurer, do some comparing.