I talk to people daily about their health benefits and hear stories about how shocked they are when they learn how much extra they have to pay beyond their premiums. With open enrollment right behind us, many of you have changed your health insurance plans and I thought it would be an excellent opportunity to talk about the truth. 

About how much you actually have to pay under your health insurance plan and if you stick around and watch till the end, I'll briefly mention the health insurance alternative, that people like you who find themselves generally healthy are switching to left and right. My name is Bobby Brown  So let's jump on in and start with the deductible. This is the amount of money you owe for covered healthcare services before your health insurance plan begins to pay under many family health insurance policies.  

Don't be under the impression that just because you met your deductible, everything is fully covered from that point on. 

That usually isn't the case. One big shock for people is that if you get medical care from an out-of network provider, those costs aren't usually credited towards your in- network deductible. Next up we have copays. 

These are a bit more straightforward. A copays is the amount you pay as your share of the cost for a medical service or item, such as a doctor's visit.

Now, not all plans incorporate cop-pays. For example, a High Deductible health Plan won't have any COPPAS. You would be responsible for meeting your deductible before anything was covered. Now let's talk coinsurance after your deductible has been met. This is where coinsurance will kick in. Coinsurance is your share of the cost for a covered healthcare service, usually calculated as a percentage such as 20 or 30 percent of the allowed amount for the service. So for example, let's say you've met your deductible and find out you need to have surgery. You'd be responsible for 20 percent of that cost and your insurance would pay 80. 

This would be up to your out-ofpocket max and on that note let's define  the out-ofpocket max. This is the most you'll have to pay for covered services in a plan. Year in 2023. The out-ofpocket max can be as high as 9100 dollars for an individual and  for a family. After you spend this amount on deductibles, co-ayyments and coinsurance for in- network care and services, your health plan pays 100 percent of the cost of covered benefits. However, the out-ofpocket limit does not include your monthly premiums. A good way to calculate the total amount you might spend in a year would be to multiply your premiums by 12 months and add the out-ofpocket maximum. That is your worst case. Scenario. 
 

It's a concept called Health Sharing , and it's significantly more straightforward than traditional health insurance. 

There are nocoayys, coinsurance deductibles and out-of pocket maximus to juggle, and the best part is that people can save 30 to 50 percent of the cost they're spending each month in premiums. By switching to this innovative alternative, I'll include a link in the description below so you can find out more about it and you can schedule a call with me to see if this might be a better fit for you and your family. On the health benefits network, we have a lot of videos pointing out many of the problems with the state of our healthcare system and new and innovative solutions that can benefit you.