There are four major cities or regions in the Alabama health insurance market. The Birmingham health insurance market is actually larger then most people suspect and has a nice urban population of 228,000. The second largest health insurance market is of course the historically significant Montgomery, Alabama region which is home to just over 200,000 people.
Mobile also quite large has 200,000, and Huntsville has 175,000. But this page is not a study of the regional demography of Alabama at all, but rather a kind of index for our study of each of the four major population center of Alabama. So it is not actually chock full of content as our home page serves as the overview of the entire state of Alabama.
So rather than make conversation here, I will instead briefly discuss the different health insurance plans available in other, smaller sections of Alabama including Tuscaloosa, Hoover, Dothan, and Decatur. All four cities are under 100,000 residents so you would be hard pressed to find more then 2 Wal-Marts in a 30 mile radius.
The entire Alabama population is about 4.5 million and to serve this health insurance there are only the four main companies that we discussed on our Alabama health insurance home page. Humana, United, Aetna, and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alabama. Personally I think that Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alabama offers great health insurance coverage in the Tuscaloosa market. After running several quotes in these smaller cities I figured Tuscalossa would be a good picture for the smaller areas of Alabama. What I like about this BCBS plan is that it is simple and doesn’t have 100 possibilities like the other carriers and it also offers the most health insurance for the least money in the more remote areas of Alabama. However, all companies have drawbacks and my main issue with the Blue Cross plan is that their underwriting can be rather difficult for people with medical conditions (which is nearly everyone these days), but they do have an excellent in these remote areas and you can pretty much count on the town doctor accepting this health plan no matter where you live.
My second choice to my great surprise was United Health One which is for sure the cheapest health insurance plan in Alabama. I ran several Alabama health quotes in such towns as Hoover, Dothan, and Decatur for several demographics to come to this conclusion. For a 34 year old male in Tuscaloosa United Health One (Golden Rule) only cost $91 per month for a pretty benefit rich plan called the Copay Select, which comes with a $2500 deductible and unlimited office visits and prescriptions. Of course the Blue Cross plan costs $91 with a $1500 deductible so you would be hard pressed to choose United in this situation.
Humana One is very middle of the road in Alabama and at $122 per month for a 34 year old male is in the running but in my book would be 3rd choice. Finally Aetna is just too darn expensive in the entire state of Alabama so you would only go with this plan (and the AARP if you are over 55) if you have a pre-existing condition. AARP is also always a consideration for those over 55 as they offer an outstanding plan underwritten by Aetna of course that is very affordable and easy to get if you are in this demographic.
