IMO deductibles should be high, the purpose of insurance is to pay for catastrophic medical bills.
Not at these premium levels... Who can afford a plan with a $3k deductible? I'd guess $7k is closer to the average that most people buy.
There's also the question of what is "catastrophic". Costs are through the roof, especially with most providers tacking on anything they can think of (whether it be from greed / gaming the system, or defensive medicine.)
Yes, but high deductibles pair with lower premiums.
That’s not the case with the ACA.
>> IMO deductibles should be high, the purpose of insurance is to pay for catastrophic medical bills.
I have no problem with high deductible insurance. What I have a problem with are high deductibles coupled with outrageously high premiums that increase 15% to 20% each year.
Ten years ago Mrs. Tick and I got a high deductible health plan coupled with a health savings account. It worked out well for us when the premiums were $450/month.
They’re now $1050/month. Next year $1200/month. We have had no health issues to justify that increase. Never, in ten years, have we received a dime in benefits because we never exceeded the >$5000 deductible.
We’re now looking into Christian health-cost-sharing plans that satisfy Obamacare rules but cost MUCH less — a few hundered a month. They are essentially high-deductible too. Their drawback is that they’re not health insurance, per se.
That may be your preference but others are willing to pay more monthly to have lower deductibles. Freedom to choose either is what we had before obamacare(less).
But my premiums are close to $20k per year.
I’d be happy with a big deductible if I had a reasonable premium. But my deductible is high and my premium is abusively high.
But the premiums charged are way high for the $6500 deductibles they offer.
True. Agree. But O’Care was sold to the leeches as a panacea for all - virtually no cost and everybody gets covered.
The truth is that Obama and this administration don’t even care about prices now. The higher the better, in fact. He got what he wanted - a one way ticket to single payer (government) and another entitlement that eats up that remaining third of the budget not already eaten up by Medicare, Medicaid, SSDI and SSI.
$12,000-$20,000/year premium, $5,000 deductible before the plan pays anything, and a $13,000 average family out of pocket is not insurance at any level.
Until we stop subsidizing medical systems by dangling free money in front of them, it will remain high. Its the same thing that happened to colleges: tuition rates through the roof because student loans pay for it all.
Catastropic for a guy making 25,000 a year is different than for one making 80,000 a year.
Most Americans, iirc, have less than a paycheck’s worth of money in the bank. So, to pay a $3000 deductible, they’d have to put it on their credit card. The monthly payment then would effectively raise their monthly premium, and they’d still have the 3000 deductible + inflationary increase the next year.
So, they’ll gradually get deeper and deeper in the hole.
The only workable system is the same as with auto insurance...purely private. The companies will figure out what product at what price will deliver the coverage that people will buy. Or they’ll go out of business.
“IMO deductibles should be high, the purpose of insurance is to pay for catastrophic medical bills”
That was true when said policies had low premiums, that went down the toilet with Odungacare.
Deductibles of $10,000 do not help the majority of working people. It is the same as no insurance. When my kids were little (twenty-five years ago or so), there was no deductible for doctor visits and a small co-pay. And coverage was affordable. My daughter’s premiums just went up - again. Obamacare for the most part has hurt way more than it has helped.