Health Insurance Terminology-Maximum Out of Pocket Costs

As we know the deadline (December 15)to update our Health Insurance application is approaching. This is a time when you can go through your application and update your Income, in case you foresee changes next year. You can also switch over to a new plan. Nonetheless everyone has to visit their Account and confirm whether they want to stick to their existing plan or switch over to a new one.

“Maximum Out of Pocket Cost” is a term which you might have encountered quite often while browsing through different plans.  It is the amount of money you pay in a year after which the Insurance Company bears 100% of the cost. For Example, Let’s say the Maximum Out of Pocket Cost for your Health Insurance Plan is $3,000 and in this year you have already spent $3,000. Now suppose you face a medical Issue where you visit a doctor and get a bill of $800. In this case, your health Insurance company would bear the full amount ie. they would pay $800. So for any medical bills till the end of the year, the Insurance company would take care of it and you won’t have to spend a single penny out of pocket.

Please visit the Health Insurance Market Place or the website of your Health Insurance provider to update your application.

Health Insurance Terminology-Deductible cost

Being insured is a must. And especially in countries like the U.S. it is very important. The reason being that the cost of health care is very high and sometimes it becomes unaffordable for common people. 

With that being said if one has to select or choose a health plan you might come across many different  terminologies which some might find intimidating.

One of the common terms which you might come across by going through a health plan is Deductible Cost.

What is a Deductible Cost?

Deductible Cost is the amount of money you have to pay annually to the health insurance company. You have to pay this amount before you go for the first visit to your doctor, in order for the Insurance company to give you insurance.  But this a one time payment which you have to pay only once every year.

Let’s take an example. Suppose the Deductible Cost in your plan says $400 and doctor’s  visit says $15. Then once you start your coverage. Before you goto a doctor you have to pay $400 to your health Insurance company. And once you visit a doctor, you have to pay $15 and the insurance company would take care of the rest of your bill. In case you are not going to  visit a doctor in the year, you don’t need to pay the deductible cost.There are different kinds of plans available. The deductible Cost ranges from as low as $0 to $2500 or even more. So it depends on what plan you want to take and how much you are willing to pay. You still have to pay your monthly premium every month in order to keep your insurance plan running.