Do you need to buy an individual health insurance policy because of a layoff, or because you're self-employed or work as an independent contractor? Clark knows it can be a daunting experience.

So often, the consumer champ gets calls from people who tell him what they paid for a policy and then ask him if it's a good price. There is no one answer. It depends on what's covered under the plan, the amount of the deductible and the limits therein.

We don't have what economists would call a "transparent market place." That means it's very difficult to shop apples-to-apples across the market.

The consumer champ has long advocated that coverage be standardized. In Clark's ideal world, there would be just 12 health plans offered to everyone: 3 HMOs, 3 PPOs, 3 HSAs and 3 of the traditional 80/20 splits. Every insurer would have to sell identical plans. That way you could switch to another insurer's HMO plan No. 2, for example, if your insurer's HMO plan No. 2 is too costly.

But until the day when that becomes a reality, here are 2 websites that can walk you through the process of buying an individual policy:

• HealthCareCoach.com
• HealthInsuranceInfo.net (contains state-specific info)