When we shop online for health insurance, we are all looking for the most coverage for the lowest price. As an insurance agent, that makes sense however, when does affordable health insurance become Unaffordable? The most common mistake that a consumer makes when shopping online is looking for the lowest possible price. This concept makes sense for a consumer who is in their twenties or thirties and has no health issues and all they need is catastrophic coverage such as hospitalization or emergency room. A healthy consumer doesn’t need all the bells and whistles such as co-pays for office visits or low co-pays for prescription drugs. On the other hand, an unhealthy consumer needs to make sure they don’t get talked into the lowest price plan in the market just to save some money on their monthly premium. A low monthly premium may look good on the outside but what does that policy REALLY cover?

Typically, when you purchase lost cost healthcare, your deductible is extremely high. Now a days, the average deductible is around $5,000 for an individual so most low-cost plans have deductibles in the range of $7,000 for an individual. Furthermore, the plan will not pay toward office visits, lab work or prescriptions until you meet your $7,000 deductible. So, for someone who has several prescriptions and goes to the doctor often, they must pay the first $7,000 in medical expenses in addition to paying that so called “low premium”. In some cases, spending an extra $50-$100 per month in premium will save you thousands of dollars in medical expenses because of the copay availability.

Some consumers end up in an even worse circumstance than the one mention above. As if it couldn’t get any worse than that. There are some agents and agencies out there that only offer limited benefit plans. If you look at our “Health Plans” page, it explains how limited benefit plans stack up to other health insurance vehicles. In short, a limited benefit plan is exactly what it sounds like, limited. Instead of having a deductible and co-pays, the plans consist of fixed benefits that the carrier will pay for your medical services. For example, if the limited benefit plan pays $250 per day for hospital. That doesn’t mean you pay $250 per day. That means that the carrier is paying $250 per day and the consumer is responsible for the difference! The average hospital stay will cost $3,000-$5,000 per day so $250 per day doesn’t help at all. Most agents make this sound appealing because all they tell you is that it has a $0 deductible. A $0 deductible doesn’t mean you pay nothing. It just means that you don’t have a set dollar amount you have to meet before the carrier pays. So, these low-cost plans could leave you on the hook for thousands of dollars, meanwhile, you thought you had a great deal.

It is important to find the right agent to work with so they can help you the best way they can. Remember, just because you have the lowest premium, it doesn’t mean you are saving money. You need to know how your policy works and what benefits you are receiving for the price you are paying. In most cases, you get what you pay for. It makes sense to pay more to pay less in the long run. Give us a call at 855-698-5385 so we can find you the right plan. At Next Level Benefits, we will inform you what you will receive for the lowest price and what you will receive if you pay a little more.