A survey released last year uncovered an incredible statistic:
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4% of Americans with a high deductible health insurance plan delayed medical care because they didn’t want to or could not pay their deductible.
Frankly, while it’s a bit alarming, it is not at all surprising. After all, deductibles and out-of-pocket costs keep getting higher as families and employers keep trying to hold down their monthly costs.
If you have an individual health insurance plan, you know this is true. Unless you qualify for heavy cost-sharing subsidies, the out-of-pocket maximum costs (what you actually have to pay for medical care) on most silver and bronze level plans is in the range of $6-7,000 for an individual (double that for a family).
How to Protect Yourself From High Deductibles
If the goal of insurance is to protect yourself from unexpected costs you aren’t prepared to pay, then we’ve arrived at the point where we need to consider insurance for our insurance.
Really. Think about it. If you couldn’t afford a $6,000 out-of-pocket expense, but you could insure yourself against it for $50 or $60/month more, would you do it?
That’s why more and more people are discovering Gap Insurance.
There are a lot of different kinds of gap insurance plans out there. And the plans available to employer groups are different (and more comprehensive) than those available to individuals.
Here’s a primer on group Gap Insurance plans.
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Here’s a primer on individual Gap insurance plans.
There is no reason to think that healthcare and health insurance costs are going to go down anytime soon, no matter what the politicians tell us. So we’re suggesting to all of our clients that they consider adding Gap Insurance – just like we did to our own policy.