Making Health Insurance Affordable

 Making Health Insurance Affordable

It seems that we hear about how expensive health care is in the United States everywhere. We hear it on TV, in the newspaper and from people around us. Health Insurance companies are aware that the average individual and family health plan is getting unaffordable. The solution has been to create more customizable plans with flexible benefits and deductibles. How much you are paying monthly for health insurance is similar to what you would pay for a similar plan from another health insurance carrier. The differences will depend on how efficiently the insurance company is run. If you got a lower quote for health insurance then what you are paying now, it does not mean that you are getting a better deal.

It could be exclusion, limitation on how much the plan pays for something, deductible, co-insurance or many more very creative ways that insurance companies are using to make health plans more affordable. When comparing health insurance plans from different health insurance companies it is nearly impossible to compare them apples to apple. Insurance companies have to compete and almost never have plan designs same as other health insurance companies in your state. For example in California Blue Cross and Blue Shield are two separate insurance companies that are competing against each other. Both Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield of California have very different plan designs, even though plans might look the same if you are comparing them just based on the deductible and copay. Most people when shopping for health insurance are only looking at deductibles and co-pays. What is going to make a big difference in the monthly price you pay is overall plan design.

First, you really have to think about past usage of your health insurance. You should only use past references for your preventive care, things like doctor visits and physical exams. If you are someone that does not go to a doctor that often then in most cases there is no reason for you to have a plan with a low co-pay to go to a doctor. In some cases you can have a plan that does not cover doctor office visits at all. This way you can just pay for the visit out of your own pocket and save a substantial amount monthly on your health insurance premiums. In some cases you can have the exact same plan except one would cover doctor office visits while the other one would not, and you can save yourself up to $100 per month. If my math adds up, if you take a plan that does not cover doctor office visits and you go to a doctor once per month well that's $100(your monthly savings) minus $65(cost of a doctor office visit if you pay out of your own pocket). The cost of actual catastrophic health insurance is actually really low. It is all of those add-ons that you have with an average plan that make it expensive.

Think about this: if you have car insurance you know that it will only cover you if you get in a car accident. Car insurance does not pay for any "preventative" care. Car insurance does not pay for your gas, oil changes, upgrades to your car and "check-ups". The reality is health insurance is actually inexpensive in the United States if you get health insurance for what it was designed for, which is major accident or illness. The problem with health insurance is not health insurance itself. When a person leaves a corporate group health plan they are expecting to get same type of coverage on their own. When you work for a company they either pay 100% of your health insurance or a large portion of it. They take the remainder which you have to pay out of your check once every two weeks - this way it does not seem that health insurance costs that much. If you got used to the way your large company group plan worked and you are out there looking for a similar plan on your own, of course it is going to be expensive.

Today's individual health insurance plans are designed so that you can get only benefits that you are going to use. With most companies you have the option to pick your hospital deductible, your doctor office visit co-pay, the type of prescriptions that you might want to use(generic or brand name) and your maximum out of pocket (make sure that you know what it is when you are comparing health plans). There are a few more ways which insurance companies use to add additional fees that are not part of your deductibles and co-pays. Some insurance companies have co-pay for emergency room visits while others do not. Before the recent changes in plan design took place, companies charged everyone for maternity coverage, and it did not matter if you were a single male or if you were 60 years old. Today you can choose whether your plan covers maternity or not.

Some insurance companies have what's called "daily facility fees" on top of your deductible. Keep in mind that your main concern would be catastrophic coverage. That will keep you from going bankrupt, not the $55 doctor office visit. No one has ever gone bankrupt because they were not able to pay $55 out of their own pocket for a doctor visit. If you look for health insurance for what it was designed for then it is affordable. If you were looking for car insurance that covered your gas, oil changes, basic maintenance and checkups, the cost of that coverage would be astronomical. When looking at the plans all you should be concerned about is what you would have to pay out of your own pocket in the worst case scenario.

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