Even after employers pick up a substantial amount of the cost, Americans spend thousands of dollars on health care annually. Workers who use employer health insurance plans pay an average of $1,243 a year in premiums for single coverage or $5,588 for family coverage, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. The average annual deductible is $1,644 for single coverage, and those with family coverage often have an overall deductible of at least $2,000. Annual out-of-pocket maximums may run several thousand dollars. To help relieve the pain of high health care costs, check out these 20 money savers.
MAXIMIZE YOUR BENEFITS
1 Stay in your health insurer’s network. If you visit a provider that doesn’t fall within your plan’s network, you’ll pay more for care. If you have a preferred provider organization (PPO) plan, you may receive some level of coverage for out-of-network care. But with a health maintenance organization (HMO) plan, you’ll likely pay the full cost. Use your insurer’s online tools to search for in-network providers.
Starting in 2022, by federal law insurers must cover at in-network rates “surprise” medical bills, which result when patients unknowingly get care from out-of-network providers in emergencies. You may also get a surprise bill if you visit an in-network facility and see a provider (say, a physician or anesthesiologist) who is not in-network. In the interim, you can appeal with your insurer any surprise bills that you receive. And many states have their own laws that provide some protection against surprise medical bills.
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der May 2021-Ausgabe von Kiplinger's Personal Finance.
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Diese Geschichte stammt aus der May 2021-Ausgabe von Kiplinger's Personal Finance.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
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