Bipartisan legislation aims to get more Americans into high-deductible insurance, but perils would remain.

For thrifty consumers, there’s a lot to like in high-deductible health insurance. The plans offer low monthly premiums and those fees fully cover preventive care, including annual physicals, vaccinations, mammograms and colonoscopies, with no co-payments.

The downside is that plan participants must pay the insurers’ negotiated rate for sick visits, medicines, surgeries and other treatments up to a minimum deductible of $1,500 for individuals and $3,000 for families. Sometimes deductibles are much higher.

Let’s keep it civil.

  • flatbield@beehaw.org
    2·
    1 year ago

    I have an ACA high deductable plan. It is like a no brainer for me. In my state if you pay full cost, it comes down to how you want to phase in costs. High deductable is cheaper if your healthy or if your are very sick and reach the out of pocket max. In between it will depend on your exact details.

    • quindraco@lemm.ee
      12·
      1 year ago

      My girlfriend just got on a high-deductible plan for the first time and it’s the worst plan I’ve ever seen due to her need for many medications. She changed jobs which is what triggered it and the new plan means her real new income is much less than her old, which we were not expecting since plan details were not available during recruitment. Feels like a bait and switch.

      • flatbield@beehaw.orgEnglish
        1·
        1 year ago

        Kind of depends on your exact situation. If your getting a plan through a company they pay a lot of the costs.

        If your having to pay for a plan yourself it costs a lot. My wife and I pay about $18000/year for the two of us if you count insurance and out of pocket. It is a good plan, but the cost is kind of scary. I like high deductible in this case because I’d rather pay lower insurance costs even though that may be partially made up by out of pocket. Your going to pay it either way presuming that your paying all the costs. On the other hand, if someone else is paying for part or all of the insurance costs, your conclusions may be different.

        Also meds. Check out GoodRX and switch to the specific generic that is the cheapest of the class you need. I save almost $2K a year doing this. That is if you can. If not, drugs are just expensive.