We got our annual health insurance premium increase this month, and we’re now paying $498/month for our health insurance. I fondly remember 2003, when we were paying $110/month. But since then we switched to an HSA qualified plan with a $3000 family deductible (as opposed to the $2500 per person deductible we had before), and we added a third family member to the policy. And of course there are five years of rate increases factored into the equation. I know there are plenty of people paying more, but $500 a month is still a lot of money. I’ve never used my health insurance for anything other than annual exams. Our baby was born at home, and we paid our midwives ourselves – insurance didn’t cover it. My husband hasn’t ever used his health insurance until this year, when he more than got our money’s worth from it with two knee surgeries and all the follow ups and physical therapy visits. But by the end of the year, he should be back to normal, with no more knee issues. Our baby has only used the policy for well-child checks, which are covered regardless of whether we’ve met the deductible or not.
Taking all of this into account, we’ve decided to raise our deductible in January. I checked with the insurance company, and we can increase the deductible to $4000 and pay $420/month. That saves us $78/month, or $936/year. Of course, we’ll have an extra $1000 in exposure with the higher deductible, but as long as we don’t meet our deductible every year going forward, we’ll come out ahead with the higher deductible and lower premiums. The way I look at it is that if we keep the lower deductible, we’re guaranteed to be spending that $936/year in premiums. If we go with the higher deductible, we might have to spend extra money to meet the deductible. That’s a gamble I’m willing to take, given our history of never using our health insurance at all. We have enough money in our HSA to cover the higher deductible, and we’ll be putting more into it in January (some of which will come from the savings we get by going with the higher deductible).
Our deductible will be $4000 for the family, and the policy has 100% coverage after the deductible – so as long as we stay in network, $4000 is our worst-case out of pocket amount. What about you? What’s the highest deductible you’re comfortable with? Have you raised your deductible or cut your benefits in order to lower your premiums?
Kelly says
Wow, that sounds like a pretty good deal. I am not sure what our deductible is, but we should probably look into it. I never really go to the doctor, except for a physical and yearly “girlie” exam. Of course, when I was pregnant, I was there constantly, so we definitely got our money’s worth.
Deborah Johnson says
I am very fortunate in that my employer covers 100 percent the cost of my health care. That includes my dental. It’s also just me, which makes it cheaper.
I did raise the deductibles this year on my auto and home insurance policies, saving me about $50 a month.
joanna says
I <3 our HSA plan– we have a $5000 deductible, and, as you said, really don’t use our health insurance that often, so the low premiums are worth it. We’re working toward getting enough in the HSA to cover the deductible, as you did.
April says
I’m covered through my employer 100 percent, and my husband is covered through his for 75 percent.
If I quit working one day when we start a family, we’ll go with a higher deductible. Like you, we rarely use our health insurance. I have a physical once a year, and that’s about it. My general MD almost threw out my files because it had been over three years since I had seen her!
tightfistedmiser says
If your husband didn’t have the knee issues you could shop around for a better deal. I pay a little under $70 a month with a $5000 deductible. I’m a 41 year old guy and overweight so I don’t even get the preferred rate. I could be paying even less. Since you’re paying about $140 a month you should be able to get a better deal. I’m guessing you are younger than me.
Stefanie says
Actually, we are switching back to our old plan, with no deductible. The plan we had this year, with a deductible (I’m not sure exactly what it is, not nearly $4000), sucked. Our doctor co-pays cost more, our prescriptions cost more, ER visits cost more, and we had the deductible.
With the plan we are switching back to in January, which we had up until this past January, the premiums are less, all co-pays are less, and there’s no deductible. The only differences are lifetime maximum payout is a little lower, and we can’t visit out of network doctors. That doesn’t matter, anyway, because we couldn’t find any doctors in our area that are out of network.
Lower premiums, lower co-pays, no deductible. For once, a win-win situation :)