Why gamble with your health and your financial future when you can get health coverage for $200 a month or less - sometimes much less - if you are 40 or younger? It won't be Cadillac coverage. It will be more like a station wagon, but the insurance will help keep you out of the poorhouse if you have an accident or serious illness.

Web page makes it easier

At the request of Idaho Gov. Butch Otter's Select Committee on Health Care, the Idaho Department of Insurance has created a Web portal to help healthy Idahoans find affordable insurance. It is for people who are on their own - no coverage through their jobs or their parents. What makes the portal special is it can serve as a one-stop shopping center for some big Idaho health insurers:

The young

If you are 19 to 29 years old, you are in the biggest single group of uninsured Idahoans. You are healthy and may think you'll never step foot inside a doctors' office or hospital. But traffic accidents are your No. 1 enemy, and it may be easier than you think to run up a bill of $40,000 or more.

The jobless

You are at risk of losing your health insurance along with your job. Having bare-bones coverage is better than having none. A policy that requires you to pay $7,000 before your insurer pays is better than bearing the entire cost of a serious illness out of your own pocket.

What do I do?

Go to the "Healthy Idaho" Web site: http://healthinsurance.idaho.gov/healthy_idaho.aspx.

What's a deductible?

You'll find definitions that will make it easier to shop smart.

The nitty-gritty: How much will it cost? Here are quotes from three companies:

Blue Cross of Idaho is the least expensive policy for a healthy 25-year-old man non-smoker costs - $34.17 a month through the Essential Blue Basic PPO. It is $45.19 for women. Generally, health insurance costs more for women because of pregnancy and childbirth. It's a bare-bones, or limited benefits, plan with a deductible of $5,000, which means a 25-year-old has to pay $5,000 out-of-pocket for most care before insurance starts paying 80 percent of the cost. Call 286-3671 or (888) 462-7677.

SmartHealth,offered by Primary Health, is a mulit-pronged health-care delivery system. The lowest price for that same 25-year-old non-smoking male has a $7,000 deductible and costs $62 a month. It's called the SmartHealth Individual Plan. You fill out an application with details about yourself, and the company gives you its best rate. Call 433-4633 or (866) 495-4633 for more information.

Regence BlueShield of Idaho has a Regence NowSelect policy with a $7,500 deductible for $43 a month for a 25-year-old healthy, nonsmoking man.

Or call (800) 632-2022.

Now what?

Now that you have an idea about prices, it is up to you to compare the policies to see which one fits you best. You can talk to the companies listed here, or you can contact a health insurance agent. An agent can help sift through the details or find information on other health insurers in Idaho.

Colleen LaMay: 377-6448