Answer: If you cannot afford health insurance for the whole family you can analyze your family's risks and protect yourself from the biggest risks with the least amount of premium. So let's take a look at some scenarios.

If one or more of your children are still infants, purchase child health insurance for the infant only. That child will need to see the doctor frequently for well-baby visits and is more at risk for minor illnesses than your older children. Buy a plan thet covers preventive care and doctor visits for a copay for that child. It will cost you about $100 monthly. If that's all you can do right now. So be it.

Let's say one of your children has a chronic illness - like Asthma. That condition could lead to a very expensive emergency room visit. You could cover that child with a low-cost high-deductible health insurance plan for about $60 per month. If he or she has an emergency room visit without insurance, your cost might be $25,000, with cheap insurance your portion might be as low as $2,000. If that's all you can do, just do it.

You can insure all your children against the most expensive risks (hospitalization) for a lot less money than you mentioned - $590 minimum (assuming you don't have 10 kids.) You were probably looking at plans that cover doctor visits, diagnostic exams, etc. These are not high-dollar expenses and health insurance plans that include them are too expensive for you. Check locally for "free clinics" or low cost community clinics that can provide your kids with treatment of minor illnesses and immunizations.

Hope this helps.