Who Gets HDHPs?
Health plans with high deductibles can be purchased by anyone, but those who most commonly opt for these plans are people who are generally healthy. Because they’re banking on their health and not planning on having numerous prescriptions filled or several trips to the doctor or hospital, they’re quite comfortable with HDHPs because they likely won’t ever use enough care to even come close to the deductible.
What If Something Does Happen?
It is not outside of the realm of possibilities that a medical emergency could occur, even to the healthiest person. Hearts sometimes don’t work properly, accidents happen and unfortunately, cancer discriminates against no one. If you have been generally healthy otherwise, and therefore chose a HDHP, one of these unfortunate scenarios could drain your bank account or worse, put you into serious debt.
This is where supplemental insurance plans can really save the day. Many people are unsure of the purpose of these plans, and others have never even heard of them. Accident and critical illness plans can offer tens of thousands of dollars of protection should you have an unexpected injury or serious illness.
Suppose you walk outside and slip on some ice on your steps in the winter time. This could cause dozens of injuries, but let’s say that when you slip, you break your right ankle. You can’t drive yourself to the hospital because (besides the fact that you’re in excruciating pain), you can’t work the brake and gas pedals because of your fractured ankle. On top of a trip to the hospital, x-rays, and any procedures necessary to fix the break, an ambulance ride certainly is not cheap.
How the Plans Work
In the event of an accident, an accident plan typically reimburses you for covered injuries. If you are diagnosed with a critical illness such as a heart attack or cancer, a critical illness plan will usually pay out a lump sum of cash. Amounts and reimbursements/payouts will vary for each policy and are determined based on the value that you decide on upon enrolling.
With these supplemental policies, your life has just been simplified and your financial concerns put at ease. If you experience a covered illness or accident, your high deductible is no longer a problem because you’ll receive money from your plans to handle those high dollar amounts.
You may be thinking “the point of a HDHP is to save money, and you want me to buy more insurance?” Well technically, yes. HDHPs paired with supplemental plans can still save you money because supplemental plans are also pretty inexpensive. You will likely still be paying less to have three plans versus one major medical plan with a lower deductible.
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