Things to Ask Before You Get a High Deductible Health Insurance Plan?

A high deductible health insurance plan, is a newer types of health insurance that allows some kind of savings for its customers. It has a high deductible amount that the client must meet before the insurance start paying for coverage.

Only once you have reached the deductible the insurance will kick in with full coverage. The U.S. Department of the Treasury has specified that in the 2009 tax year, a high deductible health plan must have an annual deductible of at least $1,150 for individuals and $2,500 for families. This annual deductible figure is indexed each year for inflation and its amount is increasing each year.

You are suitable to get a high deductible insurance plans only if:

• You are healthy and rarely visit doctors
• You don’t need any prescription drugs
• Don’t have any pre-existing conditions for any illness
• Can afford high out of pocket expenses
• Don’t plan to get pregnant at least for the next 12 months ( some plan have waiting time before they cover maternity )
• You wanted to cut cost with lower premium and don’t intend to spend much on buying health insurance, yet want the coverage for severe disease or injuries.

With this plan, you take full responsibility for covering any minor or routine health care expenses until the deductible amount is met for that year.

These might include doctor visits, prescriptions, lab work or x-rays. Your deductible is higher than other insurance plans, but your premium is low. You should take advantage of the health savings account, which gives tax benefits to the saving you have made for your medical expenses.

Here are some important guidelines you should take if you are opting for the high deductible insurance health plan:

• Set up a HSA ( Health saving accounts ) to pay for the out-of-pocket expenses, which are tax advantage. you may also roll the money from year to year
• Check if your employer may have paid part of the premium before seeking for other private Insurance company.

Here are some of the key considerations one should review seriously before making an informed decision,

• Are you in good shape of setting aside enough pre-tax savings to manage the “deductible medical expenses” first of all?
• Find out if you plan to incur enough medical costs to make the high deductible health plan worthwhile in the first place.
• Check out what’s the current deductible amount and what is the approximate deductible amount for the year after

Shop and explore different types of high deductible insurance plan, and make your choice based on these :

• Premium costs by the amount of the deductible
• The lifetime annual benefits
• The annual premium
• What are coverage?
• What are some of the exceptional diseases which are on waiting time?
• Are childcare and pregnancy covered in the policy?

On the contrary, there is one drawback on this health plan : One need to assume certain risks for medical costs. Which mean for a $1500 deductible plan, $1500 is the maximum amount you have to shell out in case of a serious illness condition befalls on you unexpectedly.