Want to buy a health insurance plan for your son or daughter? As a follow-up to our recent post on the availability (or unavailability) of children’s health insurance plans across the country, we’re posting our top five child-only shopping tips today.

In case you need a brief reminder, “child-only” medical plans are individual health insurance policies for children age 18 and under with no parent or guardian listed on the same policy. They’ve gotten hard to find in the past couple years. As an unintended consequence of the 2010 health reform law (which said that you couldn’t decline coverage for children based on their medical history), many insurers stopped offering child-only plans at all.

In response, some states and insurance companies have designated “open enrollment” periods for child-only plans. They’re still not available for everyone, however, and special rules may apply.

Without further ado, then, here are our top tips for people shopping for child-only coverage:

Don’t assume there’s no child-only coverage available in your state. Educate yourself. Though child-only coverage isn’t as easy to come by as it once was, child-only plans are available in over 25 states. Refer to eHealthInsurance’s child-only health insurance chart and contact your state department of insurance to learn more.

Pay attention to open enrollment periods. Depending on the rules in your state, you may have to wait for an open enrollment period in order to submit an application for child-only health insurance. Some states allow you to submit applications outside of open enrollment but you may face higher premiums as a result.

Check with ALL the major insurers in your state. A number of states allow insurance companies to decide for themselves whether they’ll offer child-only plans and, if they do, when they’ll accept applications. Although one insurer may have nothing to offer you, another insurer may be ready and willing to extend coverage to your children. Some insurers offer child-only coverage year-round. To learn more, work with a licensed agent or contact your state department of insurance.

Don’t overlook qualifying events. In addition to open enrollment periods, a number of states allow parents and guardians to enroll children in child-only plans when certain qualifying events occur. These can vary from state to state but may include: birth or adoption, the death of a parent, the loss of health insurance formerly provided through a parent or a parent’s employer, etc..

Understand your other options for child coverage. These may include employer-based health insurance or purchasing a family plan on your own with yourself as the primary applicant and your child listed as a dependent. Remember, children cannot be turned down for coverage based solely on their own medical history – though you still can. If your son or daughter was insured until recently, he or she may also qualify for a HIPAA-eligible plan. There may also be government-sponsored options available. Contact eHealthInsurance, another licensed agent, or your state department insurance to learn more.