High Healthcare Bills

High Deductible Insurance May Leave Hefty Bills. The possibilities of reducing the cost of health insurance premiums by accepting a higher deductible is leading many families to choose this option. While the monthly cost may be considerably lower, when minor illnesses or injuries strike, many are finding themselves unable to cope with the leftover costs. Pushed as a health care option to reduce a family’s monthly health insurance expense, the high deductible plans are intended to be used in conjunction with a health savings plan.

Recently approved by the IRS a medical savings account is intended to help pay the high deductibles in the plan while saving money on the premiums. The trade off is usually the difference between the costs of a traditional health insurance plan and one with a high deductible is to be saved in the savings plan. When illness strikes, money is then available to pay the higher deductible.

Unfortunately, many people, especially those in the lower income bracket are not adequately funding their insurance savings account and ending up not being able to pay the bills. With an average annual deductible of $2,000, each year the debt due to medical bills continues to contribute to the family’s debt.

As time goes on, any money the family may have available to put into a medical savings account is now going to pay past due bills and the cycle not only continues, it escalates as for most, the previous year’s unpaid medical bills are seldom paid off before the new year’s deductible begins to be added.