Catastrophic Health Costs From High Deductible Health Insurance
High deductible health insurance, more commonly known as high deductible health plans (HDHPs) are medical health insurance plans which requires a high yearly deductible but carry a low monthly premium.
Health insurance companies like Aetna and Healthnet believe that if people had to pay a larger portion of their medical bills they would not choose to have unnecessary medical procedures and would be more prudent in their healthcare spending, thus lowering the cost of health care.
These health plans have been the subject of several studies. Both found that those families earning lower- incomes are more likely to postpone or do without medical care than pay high deductibles as opposed to higher income families.
Catastrophic Health Insurance Coverage – Do You Need it?
If you’re currently unemployed and without health insurance or you have a job that does not provide you with health insurance coverage, you may need to consider getting yourself a catastrophic health insurance coverage plan. Catastrophic health insurance is setup to cover major health problems and normally has high deductibles and low monthly premiums.
With a catastrophic coverage health plan, you will normally have to pay out of pocket for doctor office visits and prescription drugs, but major expenses are covered. These types of expenses may include hospital stays, surgery, intensive care, lab tests and X-Rays. You will rarely find pregnancy and maternity care covered on these types of plans.
Catastrophic Health Insurance – Surviving High Health Insurance Costs
Health insurance is costly. There’s no doubt about it. Here’s one effective way you can lower your health plan cost and keep quality medical coverage.
Open a Health Savings Account
Health savings accounts are a relatively new idea. They are much more popular now than when they were first introduced. The biggest benefit of health savings account is that you are able to deposit money pre-tax into your account and use the funds to pay for medical, dental, and other expenses, tax-free. This can save you hundreds, even thousands of dollars if you have high medical expenses in a given year.
Raise Your Deductible