When Texans begin evaluating their options for individual health insurance, they typically start with ACA Exchange. It's easy to plug in some quick information and get a matrix of options returned in seconds. Sounds great. People then start looking at monthly premiums, deductibles, copays, coinsurance, networks, .... The eyes begin to glaze over and they can become frustrated quickly. This is when folks begin to reach out to health insurance agents like Insurance For Texans. They want someone who can explain their options in plain English. We've seen this over and over again.
As we begin to explore the options with people just like you, the conversation at some point will go down the path of catastrophic health insurance plans since everyone realizes that the monthly premiums can be drastically lower compared to other types of health insurance plans. The odd thing is that Texans have some weird ideas about how the policy works and who can get the coverage. One of the biggest misconceptions is around the deductible required for a policy to be considered catastrophic coverage.
How Does A Catastrophic Health Insurance Policy Work?
Let's start from the beginning. A catastrophic health insurance plan is not concerned with your regular doctor visits to your Primary Care Physician. You can go or not. You will pay cash for those visits as they will not be considered a claim against your catastrophic health insurance policy. Copays for those visits don't exist since it's not a covered service. This is part of what makes these policies cheaper. It also means you do not need to worry about if you doctor is "in network" or not.
A catastrophic health insurance policy is designed to take care of the big expenses that come with major illnesses or accidents. They do this by leveraging a Critical Illness plan and an accident plan. These two health insurance plans work in tandem to cover you when big bills arise from major life events like stroke, cancer, heart attacks, broken limbs, or even car accidents. Out of pocket costs for those events is usually covered through an Indemnity plan to complete the three pronged approach to a Texas Catastrophic Health Insurance plan.
But What About The Deductible?
Now that we've defined how the health insurance plan works, the first question always revolves around the deductible. Texans have been convinced that catastrophic health insurance plans require extremely large deductibles of $10,000 to $20,000. This simply is not true! While some agents will try to sell you a cheap policy with an overly large deductible, there are options that cover your big ticket expenses with very reasonable deductible amounts like $500 to $2,500. These plans are still extremely affordable and work to make sure that you are protected from financial ruin. These health insurance plans will allow you to see the doctor of your choice for your routine care and provide you with great options for worldwide care. They can also be written at any time of year outside of open enrollment.
If you are wondering what your health insurance options are or are tired of feeling like you've been given the run around, we recommend speaking with a local independent insurance agent. If you think Insurance For Texans would be a good fit for you and your family, just click the blue button below to start the process of evaluating your options.
