Understanding the Basics of Health Insurance For Your Family

As a result of my husband being self-employed, when it came to health insurance, we were always covered by my employer. But when we had our first child–and decided that I would stay home–we suddenly found ourselves having to navigate the complicated waters of health insurance. What exactly did we need? And what is a deductible? These were questions that I didn’t think of when all I had to do was fill out a form with my past employer. It gets confusing, and in today’s world, where health insurance is a perk that is being cut in order to save jobs, many people are having to figure out what it all means. Breezy Mama enlisted the help of Eric Osborn, owner of Osborn Insurance Services, to spell it out. –Alex

Let’s start with the basics, what exactly is a deductible?
It is the amount of covered expenses that must be paid by the subscriber before coverage begins and is typically shared by the insurer and insured. Deductibles are on a calendar year basis and start over January 1st.

What is the best way to figure out if I should go with a high deductible and low monthly payments, or vice versa?
First of all, the higher the deductible, the lower the monthly premium will be, in most cases. It will depend on a couple different variables including what the average medical bills a person has experienced in the past year and the amount of money that an individual or family is willing to pay out of pocket until the insurance kicks in on an annual basis. If a person is expecting high medical expenses in the foreseeable future, it might be a good idea to go with a Read More…