As many compare health insurance plans, they are always faced with the question of whether to go with high deductibles or low deductibles. This is not a straight cut question and answer situation. Each person would need to understand the pros and cons of each plan and then armed with this information, they can then decide which plan is best for them.
Many people are usually most concerned with the monthly premium they would have to pay as a way of knowing what that health plan would cost them. Nothing can be more mis-leading than this. The lower your monthly premium, the higher deductible would be.
I think we should go back for a bit and ask what a deductible is.
What is a Deductible?
A deductible is an amount you are required to pay before your insurance kicks in. Usually, if you do not or can not pay your deductible, you can not access the benefits of your health insurance coverage.
Above, we looked at the fact that having a low monthly premium is by no means a representation of the cost you would bear. On the other, looking for low deductible plans would not necessarily save you money since your monthly premium would certainly be high.
How then do I choose a plan?
First understand where your cost are coming from. These are:
Monthly Premium
Deductible
Doctor's copays
Coinsurance
Other out of pocket (OOP) expenses
All the cost above will differ from plan to plan. In some plans, you would not have to pay for coinsurance or a high monthly premium or a high deductible. I have always insisted that the very first thing to do is to determine your health needs.
Generally, high deductible health plans (HDHP) seem to favor people who have less need for frequent medicare. If they do not need medical care, then they wouldn't have to pay the high deductibles or eve coinsurance. While on the other hand, people who need frequent medicare benefit more from low deductible health plans (LDHP) because though their premium is higher than the in the HDHP, the frequency at which they receive medical care makes it worth it. Note, this is a general statement.
From the above, you can see that which plan would be best for you would depend on your health need. It is therefore very necessary that you first determine what your health needs are.
You can begin to get more information about different health plans online. Just compare health insurance rates by getting free quotes from quotes comparison sites. This exercise would improve your ability to choose the ideal and most cost effective health plan for you.
No comments:
Post a Comment