Note: None of this should be taken as tax or legal advice.

An individual (also known as "personal" or "family") health insurance plan covers an individual and their family members.  Unlike group health insurance, individual health insurance is purchased by an individual directly from the insurance company.  Individual health insurance is independent of an individual's (or family member's) employment.

Individual health insurance plans the fastest growing form of health insurance in the United States. The number of personal health policies grew from approximately 12 million members in 2002, to an estimated 35 million members in 2010.  Individual insurance policies are available in every state from more than 300 different insurance companies.