Four Primary Steps
When it comes to choosing the best possible healthcare package for you or your family, there are a few different schools of thought. Generally, doing the job right will be a four step process. You need to chose your healthcare marketplace, explore the plans inside that marketplace, explore how large covered networks are, and determine out-of-pocket costs.
Between these variables you can find which solution best fits your needs. Some will be more expensive on the front end, but provide you more coverage in out-of-network areas. Some will be less expensive on the front end, but come with limited options. For example, you may not get a choice of your primary care physician.
This was the case with the ACA. Many patients were outraged that the bureaucratic realities of the Affordable Care Act impacted the doctor they could work with. Even though ACA represented itself as an affordable alternative, many saw premiums increase, and many were forced to change doctors—not all, but many. Baring that, taxation was required.
This is surely intolerable. The average cost of health coverage in America presently is $574 per individual, and over $1,500 for families. Now some packages will include things like dental coverage, many won’t—not unless you pay extra. So $574 a month often isn’t even representative of your total needs.
Serious Expenses
When car insurance is $100 a month and healthcare is $574 a month, on top of rent averaging $800, if you’re single, you’re looking at $1,474 a month before you buy food, water, or other necessary items to live on a regular basis. If you’re making $2k a month, you would be lucky to save anything. Even if you were making $3k a month, things are hard.
So what are your needs, and what is the healthcare market that best represents you? Well, there are a few options you might want to consider. For example, if you’re single, you probably shouldn’t be paying $574 a month. Every year, that’s $6,888—just at the average level; you could pay more, though you might pay less.
In contrast, a trip to Urgent Care is going to cost you about $100. If you went once a month for a year, that’s $1,200. But you’re not really compelled to pay at that rate. Basically, if you spend less than $6,888 a year in testing, experts, and referral as provided by options like Urgent Care, you might as well not even get a healthcare option.
The cheapest thing you can do is eat food that is healthy and exercise regularly. The vast majority of medical conditions develop owing to lifestyle. Death by despair constitutes alcoholism and drug use. Obesity is another big killer, as is smoking. Just being sedentary can severely reduce your lifespan.
Considerations In Healthcare Cost Reduction
First, consider your lifestyle. If you regularly eat poorly, and you seldom exercise, it’s key that you change these habits for the better. When you keep physically active and carefully control your food intake, your body will naturally remain healthy longer. If you don’t have pre-existing conditions, you can coast for decades off healthy living and the occasional Urgent Care visit.
From adolescence until your late sixties, you’re in a prime window for health wherein the majority of your needs will be minor, unless you’re injured, have a congenital illness, or acquire some sickness incidentally. So if you take care of yourself, you can save tens of thousands of dollars in healthcare.
However, even if you’re healthy, having a family changes things considerably. Children can get injured, breaking bones. They can catch illnesses that are life-threatening. Your spouse may contract something like cancer. Though some lifestyle choices contribute to such ailments, sometimes they seem to come out of the blue.
Families must have some sort of healthcare solution, and it may be best not to go with traditional options like the ACA, or an HMO through a well-known insurance provider. You might want to look into other healthcare markets, like the healthcare sharing trend that’s been going around for a few years.
Exploring “Shared” Healthcare Markets
Essentially, in a healthcare market where costs are shared, those under a “plan” pay into a pool which is used to cover the needs of the infirm when they develop. Plans like Medi-Share start out as low as $199 a month--$375 cheaper than the national average. That’s a savings of $4,500 a year. You could buy a used car for that.
Cheap networks do exist, but they’re going to have higher out-of-pocket costs for specialists or provisions outside your network. Additionally, their networks will be smaller. You might have a physician chosen for you who refers you to specialists outside your network owing to specific conditions. That’s just how it works sometimes.
The long and short of it is, health coverage is expensive no matter how you slice it. However, there are ways you can reduce costs, and you can explore healthcare markets for health insurance that will allow you to make the most affordable choice from the available data.
An Informed Choice
Determine if you’re single, or buying healthcare options for a family. Determine whether you’re willing to go with a healthcare market like that under the ACA, that outside the ACA, or that where those under the plan share costs such as in Medi-Share. Decide whether or not you’d rather just avoid a health plan altogether and pay at Urgent Care when needs arise.
You can save money, but it will require a bit of strategy. If you’re clever, you can be fully covered as an individual for under $2,400 a year. Also, don’t neglect coverage options through employers or government agencies. You can definitely reduce what you pay for healthcare. Seek advice, and know all your options to maintain savings.
