Cheap Florida Health Insurance

Saving Money with High Deductible Health Insurance and Hospital Supplements

I think it is important to be aware of certain facts:

1. If you show up at the hospital without health insurance and it is an emergency, they will treat you. You will get whomever they decide needs the practice more.
   
   
2. If you call one of the "top physicians" in your area, chances are they will not see you unless you have health insurance. So, you will probably end up with someone who is not as good.
   
   
3. You can save the money in an account that you would have spent on health insurance. Chances are that you will still not have enough money for most major problems. It is also likely that you will not actually save the money. You will just say you could have saved it. Plus, you still will not have health insurance and might not have access to the best hospitals or doctors.
   
   

For those of you with a short attention span, let me sum up what I am going to explain.

If you want to save money, buy a plan with a high deductible. This means $5,000 or more. But not too much more. The savings get very small when you go very high and it is really not worth it.

If you are afraid of the deductible, you can supplement the insurance with a hospital supplement plan. This will pay you or the hospital cash upon admission. It is first dollar coverage. So, even if the cost of a $5,000 deductible with a supplement is the same as a $2,500 deductible plan, you are better off with the high deductible.

If you are in the hospital for a day and your bill is $3,000, the $2,500 plan will make you pay the first $2,500 and then a part of the next $500. You will probably spend $2,600.

If you had a $5,000 deductible but a $2,000 hospital cash plan, the plan pays the first $2,000 and you are out of pocket only $1,000.

Now you know what I am preaching, give me about 5 more minutes to finish the sermon.

Deductibles

If you have been on a premier group health insurance plan, you might be used to having a deductible of less than $500. Some of you are completely spoiled and have no deductible at all.

When you got a quote for health insurance, you received quite a shock. Low deductible plans are very expensive. It was the insurance company’s way of telling you that they will punish you for buying a low deductible plan. So, why not take the hint?

 “If I have a high deductible and end up in the hospital, I will have to pay a lot of money out of my own pocket. I cannot afford it.”

This is a valid complaint but it does not have to be true.

Can you buy a low cost plan with a high deductible and still have most or all of your deductible paid if you admitted into the hospital?

Example:

The Smith family consists of Male 40, Female 35 and two children 7 and 5. They live in the Tampa area.

Traditional Plan

A $2,000 deductible with a maximum out of pocket (deductible and coinsurance) of $3,000. This plan has co-pays for doctor visits ($25 or $50) and prescription co-pays.

This plan costs $550/month.

High Deductible Plan

A $7,500 Deductible with no coinsurance (100% coverage after the deductible). There are no co-pays for office visits but you are still entitled to the PPO rate for a physician visit. So, an office visit will generally run $50 to $75. In other words, you will pay out another $20 to $30 to see a doctor.  Prescriptions are discounted and then covered 100% after the deductible.

The plan will still cover your physicals 100% without meeting any deductible because that is the law

The high deductible plan costs $381/month.

The high deductible plan will save the Smiths over $2,000 a year.

Even if you do have a lousy year, the money you saved before and after it will more than make up for it.

Look at it this way. If I can save $40,000 over ten years by having a $7,500 deductible instead of a $2,500 deductible, I am still very much a head of the game if I have a bad year or two.
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What About the Hospital Supplement?

To make sure they do not get hit with a large hospital bill, the Smiths are going to use some of the savings on a Hospital Supplement.

Hospital Cash Plan

The hospital cash plan for this family will pay out:

$2,000 if they are admitted to a hospital
$150 if they go to an emergency room
$150 for an outpatient surgery

How Much Does the Hospital Supplement Cost

The total cost for this family is $66 a month.

Summary of Advantages

This method offers a lot of advantages over using a low deductible plan without a supplement.

1. This is first dollar coverage. If you were hospitalized for one or two days for observation and the bill was $3,000, the supplement would cover most of the cost. You would not have to first meet a deductible before getting paid from the supplement.
2. The premiums on supplements generally stay more or less the same. They do not go up each year. When they do it is a very small amount.
3. You get a supplemental accident plan that will pay you $150 for an emergency room.
4. After 12 months, it will cover pre-existing conditions. Even conditions the plan has excluded.
5. This plan covers maternity after you have been on the plan for 10 months..

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