And to think I used to be good at math.

[callunav]

Plea to anyone out there who has a better grip on comparing health insurance plans than I do.

(Non US readers, you can just back away slowly, here. This is a completely US-ian madness.)

I need to choose my plan for 2020. I /believe/ I have figured out that 2 out of the 4 available plans are not going to work for me. The remaining two are similar, but not so similar that I want to just stick a pin in the screen, metaphorically speaking, to choose between them.

Here's my logic. I need someone to check it for me:

A: The plans are identical in how much they cover for different services except for their annual cost and the deductible.

B: They are also identical in copays.

C: They are also identical in which providers are covered, and which prescriptions.

D: The higher deductible is $1500. My health isn't bad, but I have enough going on that I'm pretty likely to meet that.

Therefore, it seems to me that I can ignore everything except the cost of the deductible + the annual cost of the plan.

Right? Am I missing anything significant?



I can't tell whether this business really is fiendishly complicated or merely appallingly obfuscatory.

Comments

[pameladean]

I'd check the yearly out-of-pocket maximum just to be sure they aren't trying to pull anything, but otherwise your reasoning seems sound.

I'm trying to pick a plan too, and the degree to which they want one to predict the future is so maddening.

P.

[callunav]

the degree to which they want one to predict the future is so maddening.

Isn't it? Even more if you're trying to set up an HSA/FSA.

I'm 100% certain they're trying to pull something, because they're an insurance company so that's their job. The out-of-pocket maximum is the same for both plans, however. Good thought, though, thank you.

Good luck in your own endeavors.