Health insurance .... High deductible, low premium or low deductible high premium...?

Question

Family of 4... visit dr. maybe 5x year .

Answer 1

High deductible low premium. If you are fairly healthy and don't visit hospitals often, this will save you money in the long run, as you get older, you may want to switch that if your health starts to decline.

Answer 2

I would start with selecting the health care providers (doctors and medical facilities) that you feel most comfortable with. That will help you eliminate any plans that do not work with these physicians and hospitals. As for the premium/deductible dilemma, the jury is definitely out. It’s a personal decision. Health savings accounts (HSAs) are paired with selected high-deductible health plans (HDHPs), and many people have started using these plans. However, there is much debate about their effectiveness in lowering health care costs and improving access to health care.

You can review plans online at many sites (but remember that online prices are no lower than rates you can get through an insurance agent). MostChoice.com can help you compare locally available plans and get in touch with agents without any obligation to you. You might look at plans that include doctors/hospitals and do the math. You should easily be able to calculate how much you would need to visit the doctor to meet your deductible in either the high premium/low deductible or the low premium/high deductible scenario. If you have children, I would err on the side of higher medical bills because (from personal experience).

I’ve included a link to a health savings account fact sheet, and you can visit MostChoice.com here:

http://www.mostchoice.com/health-insurance.cfm

Hope this helps,
Barnes@MostChoice

Answer 3

It depends... if everyone's fairly healthy, go with the low premium & high deductible... that's what I did, because with the plans I was looking at we would have had to go to the doctor 5 times a month to make it worth the difference in price!! But I dont know what plans you can get, so calculate it the way I did:

Take the amount of the high premium & subtract the low premium from it to get the difference, then multiply by the # of pay periods in a year (how much you'll save each year by going with the cheaper plan).
Then calculate the deductibles (dont forget to consider both office visits AND prescription drugs if anyone in your family takes them); to find out how much more expensive each incident is on the low premium plan. Figure out how many visits or prescriptions you would need to have in a given year or how many you'd have to average each month to make the high option plan worth considering. Unless it's going to be really close in your case, if you only go to the doctor 5 times a year (for the whole family), I would go with the cheaper premium.
Good luck!

Answer 4

Depends on your needs. If you have small children (under the age of two) you're going to be having a lot of well visits with shots - those can add up. If anyone has a chronic illness - like asthma or something like that, visits can add up.(In which case, go low deductible)

If you're all older (like you kids are teens) and all in decent health, using the insurance for one physical a year and the odd sick visit, I'd go with the higher deductible plan. You don't have to spend on it if you don't use it.

Also - if you have access to an HSA (health saving account) - it'd be worth it to do it. HSAs are pre-tax income put aside to use towards medical bills - deductibles, uncovered things, etc. The only sucky thing is that if you don't use it, you lose the money at the end of the year.

Answer 5

Many people, including myself opt for the low deductible, high premium plans. The key is finding the cheapest policy with the lowest deductibles and best coverage.

When looking for cheap health insurance, don't forget the old saying "you get what you pay for." This is particularly true when it comes to indemnity plans. An indemnity plan is a traditional health insurance plan that requires you to pay coinsurance amounts and certain deductibles. The coinsurance amounts and deductible levels can be modified by an insurance agent to fit your particular budget. However, the coverage this plan provides may be low-quality, especially concerning hospitalization. Indemnity plans can be very beneficial, but it is important to understand how the plan works and what it covers. Some consumers find a low-risk indemnity plan is one way to find cheap health insurance.

Cheap health insurance is best found by investing time, educating yourself and comparison shopping. Many online insurance comparison sites are designed to be an invaluable resource for insurance shoppers like you in this process. Fill out our easy form at http://www.insureme.com/landing.aspx?Refby=614499&Type=health, and you can get up to five insurance quotes from insurance agents who can help you make the best decision regarding your insurance. Once again, shop around, get multiple quotes, and learn all you can about a policy before you buy health insurance.

Ron @ InsureMe

Answer 6

Find the premium for the high ded plan and then find out the prem for the low ded plan. Multiply each plan times 12 months.

Write out the kinds of expense you anticipate, with the costs for each plan. Are you saying 4 people times 5 visits? What will 20 visits cost on each plan? Have you thought about lab costs, xray costs, dental costs, prescription costs? Usually these are extra! What if there is a broken bone?

In my company the high prem option only makes sense for people with hospitalization issues or large medical expenses. Weigh the two plans out!

Otherwise, open a savings account and bank all the money you save per month choosing the low premium plan, and if you don't use it on medical bills by the end of December, take the whole family on a trip! If everyone knows you are working to keep medical costs down, they will avoid frivolous expenses and work toward the vacation.

Answer 7

I suggest that you visit this web site where you can compare rates from different companies: http://insurecheap.us/index.html?src=2YATCMezxpqC

RE :Health insurance .... High deductible, low premium or low deductible high premium...?
Family of 4... visit dr. maybe 5x year .
Follow 18 answers

Answer 8

You can save on your insurance by compare quotes at http://HELP.COVERAGEDEALS.NET/-tuguhVD733

RE Health insurance .... High deductible, low premium or low deductible high premium...?

Family of 4... visit dr. maybe 5x year .

Answer 9

Would you rather pay by the month or all at once? Usually it's about an even split. You have to judge your tolerance level for shelling out a huge amount if someone gets suddenly ill or injured.

Can you discipline yourself to put the difference in premiums into a savings account so that the money will be there should you need it ?

Answer 10

I prefer the low deductible high premium route myself, but I go to the doctor a lot and would rather pay less out of pocket,.