3 Things To Know About High-Deductible Health Insurance Plans

6 April 2016
 Categories: Health & Medical , Blog

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The health insurance industry is always evolving, and today high-deductible health insurance policies are beginning to pop up all over the place. A high-deductible health insurance policy is very different from a standard policy that offers copays, and it is often combined with something called a health savings account plan. If you need health insurance, this is a type of policy you may want to consider looking into. Here are several things you should know about these policies.

What They Are

Traditional health insurance plans commonly offered copays and deductibles. With this type of policy, you could go to the doctor and pay just a small fee, which might be around $20 to $30. Your insurance company would then either cover the rest of the fees associated with this visit or part of the fees, depending on your plan. Copays make doctor appointments more affordable.

A high-deductible policy does not have copays. Instead, you will pay every doctor bill in full until you reach your deductible, which could be $5,000 or more. Once you reach your deductible, your policy may pay up to 100% of every cost afterwards. The percentage varies though. This may only seem useful to people who have a lot of health problems, but that really is not the case. These policies can be beneficial for anyone.

The Benefits They Offer

One of the key benefits offered by high-deductible policies is the affordable monthly rates they offer. You will pay a lot less per month for this type of policy when compared to a traditional type of health insurance policy. The other benefit these offer is that many high-deductible policies do not charge policyholders for preventative services, such as immunizations, well checkups, and pap smears.

How A Health Savings Account Relates To These Policies

To help people afford the high deductibles they may have to pay, policyholders can take part in a health savings account. This type of account allows people to save money they can use in the future to pay for doctor bills. The nice part about a health saving account is that you are allowed to deposit up to a certain amount in the account pre-tax. In other words, you will not pay taxes on the income you earned and placed in your health savings account.

In some cases, employers often donate money to their employees' health savings accounts, and there is a chance that the account you have will never expire. Your balance will simply roll over to the next year.

If you are interested in learning more about how these work, contact a company that specializes in health care services, such as Quesenberry Agency For Blue Cross-Blue Shield.