Questions about how high deductible health plans work?

The usual way it works is that the insurance company pays NOTHING until your deductible is met. You will pay everything until your deductible is met. What happens next is entirely dependent upon your how your doctor's office likes to conduct business. My doctor submits to the insurance company. The insurance co. takes note of how much to apply to the deductible and lets the doctor's office know how much I owe them. Doctor's office then sends me the bill. Hope and change has NOTHING to do with this. Blame greedy fu c king corporations AND health care insurers; have you EVER heard of a health care insurer going bankrupt? My employer has also doubled premiums and enacted a huge deductible in the past year. They are a French company operating in America and you know why they're doing it? "Because we can get away with it here; the French would never stand for being treated like this." Hi ho capitalism! There is no health care initiative or law that is 'making' them do this, so get your facts straight.

You’ll want to look at the benefit details of your particular plan, but even plans with high deductibles will sometimes cover certain preventive care services without applying those charges towards the deductible first. Health reform provisions that went into effect on September 23, 2010 also require health insurance companies in most cases to cover specific preventive medical screenings with no out of pocket cost to you – that is, before your deductible comes into play. As I mentioned, however, please talk to your Human Resources department, benefits administrator, or health insurer for more specific information about your plan. Your general understanding of how deductibles work is correct. Generally, the deductible is the amount you are required to pay towards your own medical bills before the insurance company will begin paying for a portion (or all) of them. If you’re used to a lower deductible plan, or a plan without a deductible, it can be a bit of a challenge to move to a high deductible plan. The virtue of high deductible plans is that they typically keep monthly premiums lower, while still providing you with access to negotiated rates for medical care (uninsured persons will typically pay more than insured persons for the same medical services). Hope that helps.

Sometimes, it will. Sometimes, they'll pay for a regular physical - preventative care - once a year. But in any case, you STILL get the negotiated rate for the service, which will save you $$$ over the cash rate. Yep, "hope and change" has done the same thing to my family. And if you think it's bad now, just wait and see what your share of cost is going to be come january, when plans take a BIG jump up in cost!

It is not Pres. Obama's fault insurance companies raised their rates. He is trying to work within the private insurance system to cover everyone but insurance companies are too greedy and you see the result. They must feel that billions of $$ per fiscal quarter is not enough.

The insurance company will reprice the bill, but they won't pay any towards it.