After home and living expenses such as rent or a mortgage, for a good number of American families healthcare can be the next greatest expenditure, and for many a big part of that overall healthcare cost can be their health insurance premium. However, according to financial experts, when it comes to preparing your family’s budget, there are ways to reduce both your health insurance cost, and what you pay for healthcare in general. Whether you are shopping for the first time for health insurance, or are looking for a new plan to reduce your monthly payments, here are 10 suggestions that can lead to a lower health insurance quote, and more affordable healthcare:

1. Stop Smoking – Depending on where you live you can save over $200.00 a month on the costs of cigarettes alone. As far as a health insurance quotes goes, non-smokers always pay significantly less than smokers for any policy. According to a recent study, even though smokers generally have a shorter lifespan than non-smokers, they pay a third more in overall healthcare than non-smokers throughout their lifetime.

2. Reduce Weight – Again weight plays a significant factor when getting a health insurance quote, it’s a fact that if you are overweight you will pay more. Obesity is becoming one of the greatest drains on our healthcare system. According to a recent study by the Rand Corporation, being obese adds $395 each year to your average per-year health care costs, more than smoking (an addition of $230), aging 20 years ($225), and problem drinking ($150).

3. Get More Exercise – While it may be hard to put a quantitative amount on how much you can save on a health insurance quote by exercising and getting in shape – regular exercise will not only reduce weight (see above) but can also improve cardio-vascular health and reduce other risk factors that lead to higher costs for health insurance and medical care.

4. Select a Higher Deductible – A higher deductible and higher co-pay will surely result in a lower health insurance quote, and may qualify you for a Health Savings Account (HSA) which can help defray the costs of the higher deductible.

5. Read and be Sure you Understand your Health Plan – you would be surprised at how many consumers pay more for healthcare simply because the do not know the details of their own heath insurance plan.

6. “Cheaper” isn’t always more “Affordable” – When it comes to a health insurance quote you must pick a plan that is right for you and your lifestyle. Cheaper doesn’t always mean more affordable in the long run. If you go for a health insurance quote with a smaller monthly premium, but if you have health problems and must make many doctors visits the high deductible or higher co-pay may cost you more in the long run. Choose a plan that is right for you.

7. Consolidate Your Health Plans –if you and your spouse both have separate health plans you may save money by consolidating under a single plan.

8. Be Proactive – and you can save money. For example know before you need them what if any ambulance services in your area are covered by your insurance, and when and if your regular physician is available after hours.

9. Be willing to Negotiate with Your Doctor – most physicians will offer reduced or discounted rates to patients with no or limited insurance.

10. Reduce the costs of Prescription Drugs – if you have heath insurance with prescription drug coverage, take advantage of the “lower tier” by asking your doctor to prescribe generic drugs, even if you do not have prescription drug coverage look into the discount programs offered by many drug companies and retail pharmacies.

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U.S. Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, said Democrats are working to create a “dependency class” in America in an effort to expand their political base and stay in power.“That’s part of the motive,” King said when discussing federal health-care reform efforts with reporters after a Tuesday taping of Iowa Public Television’s “Iowa Press.”King, who represents Iowa’s 5th District, said he will do what he can to try stop a health-care bill from heading to President Barack Obama’s desk, and he urged others who opposed the bill to join him.He said Democrats are moving toward nation health care, whether a public insurance option is included in the final bill or not.“That’s the goal; that’s the endeavor,” King said. “They’ll regulate everything, and when they do that, we will lose the liberty we have today to buy health insurance policies.”He predicted that if Congress passes health-care reform, Democrats will pay a price at the ballot box in 2010.“I’ve never seen this kind of energy in America, this kind of uprising, especially from the heart of the heartland of America,” King said.King said he is worried about the “mindset” drifting into America that doesn’t seem to understand the free-enterprise system.“We’re descendants in this part of the country from people who came across America in covered wagons,” King said. “I mean, they came here to live free or die on the prairie. They didn’t ask for a government handout.”    Norm Sterzenbach, executive director of the Iowa Democratic Party, called King’s comments hypocritical.“Before he rails against Democrats for working to help seniors pay for prescriptions and help students afford college, he should consider giving up his government salary, as other members of Congress have,” Sterzenbach said.King, a four-term congressman, said he plans to seek another term in 2010. Iowa is expected to lose one of its congressional seats, and King said he probably still will seek re-election in 2012 even if redistricting places him in the same district with another member of Congress.As Iowa Republicans look to unseat Gov. Chet Culver next year, King said he did not know whether he would endorse one of the candidates in the GOP primary.“I’d like to see them fight this out, because it tests their vigor, and it tests their ability, and it also shapes the policy for Republicans that will be matched up against the policy that’s been set by Gov. Culver,” King said.The “Iowa Press”  featuring King is scheduled to air at 7:30 p.m. Friday and noon Sunday on Iowa Public Television.

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When it comes to the president’s health-care reform, both of Southern Arizona’s congressional representatives are seen as “in play,” uncommitted votes that could go either way.Which is putting both under intense pressure to get off the pointy end of the fencepost they’re perched on, one way or the other.Congressman Raúl Grijalva, who doesn’t like the fact the Senate bill doesn’t have a public option, was summoned to the White House Thursday afternoon with seven other progressives for a sit-down with the president, who has said he wants the effort sewn up by the time Congress leaves for Easter break on March 26.Grijalva left the Roosevelt Room roundup sounding like he’s close to voting for with the president, despite the lack of a public option he considers critical. After the meeting, he said a partial victory on health care would be better than losing everything, at this point.Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, meanwhile, is the target of tea party rallies and a week long “Code Red” robocall campaign by the National Republican Congressional Caucus, which is targeting voters in swing districts. The script warns listeners to call Giffords “before it is too late and tell her to vote ‘no’ on Nancy Pelosi’s dangerous health-care scheme.”On the other side, Organizing for America took out an ad in USA Today that says, “You Fight, We’ll Fight.” It pledged 8 million volunteer hours to assist congressional representatives who hold steady on supporting the plan, which Giffords has already said she doesn’t like. Arizona Director Jessica Jones said that so far, 700 volunteers are committed to help the state’s Democrats.”We will be making sure that we are backing up their legislators and letting them know their constituents are behind them,” Jones said, because too many Americans have gone without insurance for too long. “We’ve been debating this for a year now and it’s really crunch time. We need to get this bill passed.”Although majorities of the Senate and House approved separate health-care versions, they must settle on identical versions before it can become law. And with the loss of the 60th vote in the Senate with Scott Brown’s election, the plan that seems to have the most traction so far hinges on the House signing off on the bill that passed the Senate on Christmas Eve. But House Democrats have found a lot not to like in that package.In January, Giffords sent a letter to House Speaker Pelosi saying the Senate reform version would be too costly when the state’s fiscal position is already dire.That package could cost the Arizona $4 billion over the next decade, she wrote, because of its requirements to put more people on the rolls for the the state’s version of Medicaid, which provides health care to low-income residents.Her spokesman, C.J. Karamargin, said that if the bill comes to the floor of the House with the same language she objected to in January, she will not be able to support it. Asked if she can offer her support if the concerns are worked out on reconciliation, Karamargin said, “We’d have to weigh that promise if it’s made.”Although the House leadership has already included Giffords, as well as Rep. Harry Mitchell, as one of several possible “vote switchers,” Giffords was not part of the group invited to sit down with the president Thursday.Grijalva said the group vented complaints about the bill, primarily the lack of a public option. While President Obama reportedly said he pledged to continue working on those areas, he focused attention on the benefits of the package, from more money to community health centers to more regulation on insurance companies. And he drew a parallel with Social Security, that started small but grew over time to become the sweeping entitlement program it is now.”The president made a compelling case,” Grijalva said. “He presented an argument that if we don’t get this first block done, we’ll never get the rest.”He didn’t take a head count, Grijalva said. “That’s going to be the most agonizing week for me. I hate to vote for a bill that doesn’t have the public option, but I don’t want to hand the opponents of health-care reform a victory, either.”

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