How to Choose Between High or Low Health-Care Premiums

When choosing a health insurance policy, you'll encounter a raft of different plan features and cost structures, and it can be hard to sort through it all on your own. When deciding on plan features, you'll need to take into account your medical needs and preferences. But in making a choice between high and low premiums, you can be fairly methodical. High premiums generally mean more comprehensive coverage and lower co-pays and deductibles. Low premiums are usually featured in a plan that has limited coverage and a higher deductible.

Instructions

• 1

  Consider your medical history over the last year or so, including how many times you visited the doctor in a typical month.Review the bills associated with a typical visit.

• 2

  Calculate the cost of any regular prescription medications that you take.

• 3

  Compare your typical medical costs over an average month with the premiums in a high-premium low-deductible plan. If your costs are around the premium level or higher, this is the plan to go with.

• 4

  Consider your age, health and number of dependents. If you are young, in your twenties or early thirties, exercise regularly and eat right, and you have no children, you generally need health insurance only for checkups and to hedge against the possibility of a serious accident or sudden illness. In this situation, go with the low-premium high-deductible plan.

• 5

  Decide if you have the financial discipline to put money into a health savings account. This can be a great way to give yourself peace of mind with a high deductible plan---if something unforeseen does happen, such as an accident or surgery, you have the means to pay for it until your insurance kicks in.

• 6

  Review the medical needs of your children, if you have them. Young children especially need lots of "well-child" visits and can be accident-prone. It's wise in this situation to opt for a high-premium plan. If your children are older, perhaps teenagers, and generally healthy, this may not be as big a factor in your decision.