Can I do better on health insurance?

[Epry123]

Been thinking I can find better health insurance independently than with my employer currently Ive got health and dental totaling $36 a week ($27 health $9 dental) $1872 a year

 Now about me I'm 22 nearly 23 and hardly ever really go to the doctors. Can I do a little bit better in this expense or am I starting to be a little too picky on things now

[protostache]

If you're in the US you can go to healthcare.gov and get a range of quotes. You may be able to beat $108/mo for medical but I doubt it. There's a few additional things to consider:

• Will your employer give you the portion that they're paying, if anything? Or do you just lose that money?
• There are tax implications. If you buy your own insurance while having access to an employer-subsidized plan, you can only deduct what you spend above 10% of your AGI. For example, if you make $40k/year you can only deduct the portion of your medical expenses above $4k.
• If you do decide to go independent I would advise skipping dental. It is generally not cost-effective and every plan I've seen has wacky yearly/lifetime limits. We pay cash for dental and get 10% off the price, plus they don't tack on services that the insurance companies require for verification, like extra X-rays before/after doing major work.

Edit to add: If your parents have medical through work you can get on their plan until you're 26. That may be another cheaper option to investigate.

[forummm]

You could just drop dental. Sometimes the coverage is a lot more than what you'd spend getting your routine cleanings (it is for me). And I can self-insure for anything more expensive.

Your health insurance premium sounds pretty reasonable. If the plan's any good I would just keep it.