How can a high deductible put someone in financial trouble?

If you have a high deductible, all medical care expenses up to that point will be 100% out of pocket. If you have a deductible of $500, most likely you can manage the cost. If you have a $10,000 deductible you are likely to go into debt before getting to the point where your insurance benefits kick in. There will also be years where you never get past your deductible and you'll find that once you get near, the year starts all over again and you're back to beginning your deductible balance. If you have a high deductible you had better have a plan in place on how to come up with that amount of money should you have health care needs. Oftentimes, people will use credit cards as their plan of action. If you have poor credit you'll have a high interest rate. If you have good credit but are late on even one payment your interest rate will sky rocket. If you were to use a credit card year after year for medical expenses but were slow to pay it off, quite quickly the debt will get out of hand. People easily find themselves in this kind of financial trouble.

"Lately, many consumers feel that they must have a high deductible to be able to afford the monthly insurance premiums. Unfortunately, when it comes time to use the deductible, most consumers forget they chose a high deductible and they must pay it before the insurance starts paying. Then, after the deductible is met by the member, the member's co-insurance (20% or 30%) comes into play. This could add up to a very large and costly amount of money that the member is responsible to pay. A good idea is to keep track and match up the E.O.B.'S (Explanations of Benefits) sent to the member from the insurance company when one receives the bill from the provider. It should explain how the charge was paid, or if it went to the member's deductible, if it was processed as an in network charge and discounted, or if the insurance company is needing and requesting more detailed medical or coding information. This requires follow-up calls to the insurer and the providers to get the claim paid correctly, depending on the information being requested at the time," Ms. Cindy J. Hotlzman articulates.

Ms. Cindy J. Holtzman further educates on how to keep track of your medical costs, pinpoint errors, and how to correct them. "Try to match up all E.O.B.'S received from the insurance company with the bills & receipts you get from the providers of the service. If you get bills from a provider and do not receive any type of E.O.B. from the insurance company, you must call your insurer and ask if they received the bill. Too often, the insurance company did not get the bill, the provider is billing you and you get mad that the insurance isn't paying. You need to follow-up with the provider to re-submit the claim and make sure it is received by the insurance company. This can happen often when employers change insurance companies during their "Open Enrollment" period. The provider may not have your up-to-date insurance card and the claim may have gone to the wrong insurance company. If you do not follow-up on any bills you receive that don't have an E.O.B. from the insurance company, you may be at risk for being placed in collections for non-payment, even though you have insurance to cover the expenses."

"Health Savings Accounts- These types of plans all have high deductibles and some pay 100% after the deductible, or 80%. They are becoming more and more popular for individuals and employer based group insurance plans," informs Ms. Cindy Holtzman. While you will have to come up with the money to cover the deductible year after year, if you have serious or chronic health problems that require a lot of medical attention, this may actually be a better plan for you. You can avoid financial trouble if you plan ahead for the high deductible.