An inverted-F antenna with meandered line is characterized in this paper in terms of its proximity to the human body. Radiation characteristics are simulated and analyzed in the context of proximity of the antenna to human body tissue. The dependence of radiation characteristics like radiation pattern, resonant frequency, radiation efficiency, gain and front-to-back ratio; on the type & dimensions of body model is reported and discussed. Furthermore an improvement in the antenna design using a High Impedance Structure (HIS) as a ground plane is suggested. The antenna operation with this ground plane is simulated for radiation characteristics in close proximity to the body.