Actually there are many things you can do to minimize the money you spend on healthcare such as getting discounts on prescriptions,
negotiating with your doctor, bargain-shopping for a health plan... Keep
reading this article for more details.
Why is healthcare so expensive?
You may now wonder why healthcare is so expensive. Actually that's the price of health insurance plan premiums. Your premium is the fee you
have to pay annually to get coverage under an insurance plan. It's like
a gym membership fee but much more expensive.
You are lucky if you get subsidized insurance in which your employers pay a part of your premium costs rather than having to pay the
bills yourself. But not many people get subsidized for that, and they
are more likely to be burdened by premium costs alone. For example, in
2017, the average nonsubsidized individual plan premium was $393 per
month, while the average unsubsidized monthly cost for a family plan was
$1,021.
Also, even if you pay for the insurance plan already, you still need to worry about deductibles. The deductible is the amount of money you
have to spend before the insurance company pays for your medical
services. For instance, if your plan comes with a $1,000 deductible,
you'll need to fork over $1,000 of your own money before your insurance
company starts covering most procedures and office visits.
Then there are copayments, or copay, which requires you to pay every time you visit a doctor's office or take a prescription. In short, your
copay depends on the service you use. For example, you will have to pay
less if you see a regular doctor but you will be charged higher for
visiting a specialist. Moreover, your prescription copays will usually
change from drug to drug, so planning for them can be really hard.
Be careful when picking a health plan, don't just choose the one which offers the lowest monthly premium or the one you used before.
Benefits can vary significantly each year - as can your family's health
demands. The best way to pick the most suitable plan for you and your
family: Note down your family's average number of doctor visits per
year, routine prescriptions, dental cleanings, and other services.
Compare what you'd pay over an entire year for these items on each plan.
Don't forget to calculate the monthly premiums and deductibles. People always make mistakes by purchasing insurance depended on the
lowest monthly premium. Actually you need to include the monthly premium
and deductible to evaluate the plans.
Consider an HD Plan
If your family is healthy and doesn't need to see the doctor regularly, you may consider a high deductible (HD) health plan so that
you can save hundreds of dollars per month in lower premiums.
An amazing benefit of HD plans is that you can open a health savings account (HSA), where you can sock away (on a pretax basis) money to pay
your insurance premiums and out-of-pocket health expenses. Moreover,
unused HSA money continues to grow tax-deferred every year. But be
careful because an HD plan may not be suitable for you if you and your
family's member have a chronic health condition, you're not disciplined
about saving money in your HSA, or if having such a high deductible
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