Gap insurance is increasingly popular – and for good reason!
Surveys consistently report that most Americans would have trouble coming up with $1,000 to pay an unexpected expense. Yet most individual health insurance plans (and many group plans) have deductibles and out-of-pocket expenses in the $5,000 – $7,000 range (double for families).
Those numbers obviously tell us that most of us would need help actually reaching our deductible if we had unexpected medical expenses. That’s why gap insurance exists.
Our Gap Plan Solution: The Plan Enhancer
We’ve explored a lot of gap plans and supplemental plans, and have concluded that the best value for the money is the Plan Enhancer with National General Insurance.
It begins with an accident plan and includes options to add a critical illness plan (cancer, heart attack, stroke, that sort of thing) and/or hospitalization. In each case it will pay up to a pre-determined coverage amount ranging from $2500 – $7,150. The Plan Enhancer is specifically designed to satisfy the deductible and out-of-pocket amounts of most health insurance plans.
The plan’s price depends on the coverage amount you choose, the specific coverages you choose, and your age. Most plans are under $100. If you ignore the hospitalization option and take simply the accident plan and the critical illness coverage (which is most common), the price is much less than that.
How to Enroll in the Plan Enhancer
You enroll in the Plan Enhancer here.
First you’ll enter basic info like your zip code and date of birth. Then you’ll be taken to a page with several different plans. The Plan Enhancer is the first one listed under the heading “Supplemental Coverage.”
You will see several options in the drop-down menu. First, you’ll see several different benefit levels, ranging from $2500 to much higher. You’ll also see some weird abbreviations:
- AME is “Accidental Medical Expense” — this is an accident plan that pays up to the benefit amount for medical care resulting from an accident. It has to be a part of the plan. You can take that by itself, or combine it with one or both of…
- CHS is “Cancer, Heart attack, Stroke” — this pays the benefit if any of those occur.
- SIP is “Sickness in patient” medical — This pays the benefit if you are admitted to a hospital with any kind of illness.
Choose whichever combination you like, but the price of these plans is typically low enough that it makes good sense to combine this with a higher deductible medical plan. After all, statistically, if you’re going to reach your high deductible it’s probably because of something covered here.
Gap insurance just makes sense – which is why we have it personally. Check it out:
Got questions? Contact us!