Most people consider health insurance to be something that pays the doctor or hospital if you get sick. People think that if you do not have a co payment for doctor visits and prescription drugs that you do not have good health insurance. Another common myth is that if you do not have insurance, you do not have health care. While some of these ideas are accurate, you may be able to get the coverage you need and lower your monthly cost if you understand the way it was designed to work.
When the concept of medical insurance first began, the idea was that someone with an illness such as cancer would not be able to pay for the treatment they needed because it was too expensive. They needed the treatment to live, but they would have to go deep into debt just to get the life saving treatment. Every insurance plan covered every illness. There were no co payments for anything. Everything was covered subject to a deductible and co insurance. At that time and into the late 80's, the deductibles were $100 or $250, but they still had to pay the deductible before the insurance would begin to pay.
Now deductibles of $1000 up to $5000 are common for policies that I sell. But the reason the deductible is so high is because the price for the insurance has gone up. These deductibles are fine with my clients because they know that if they go to the doctor they will not have to pay for the deducible if they have a co payment. The higher the deductible for hospitalization and surgery, the lower the price each month. So they can keep the same co payments and lower their monthly cost.
The new Affordable Care Act that was passed in 2010 mandated that every policy offer a preventive care doctor visit for free with no co payment and no deductible every year. This means if you only go to the doctor for an annual physical because you are healthy, you would not have to pay a co payment at all. Many young and healthy individuals are opting to get rid of their co payments to lower their monthly premium. Some people realize that they can pay for the doctor visit if it is 200-300 dollars, but they could not pay for a major medical expense if they were hospitalized.
Many people are over insured and that causes prices to go up. While it is nice to have a co payment for a doctor visit, the added cost to the policy each month may not be worth it. Consider getting a major medical plan without a co payment for a year. If you only go to the doctor one or two times other than your regular physical check up (which is free), you will probably save money in the premium each month. Check out prices regularly to make sure that the plan you have meets your needs. The new laws change constantly and as a result the best plan probably changes too. It's easy to get quotes and compare plans with local agents or online. There are many ways to save hundreds of dollars and still get the coverage that you need.
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