How to Maximize Your High Deductible Health Insurance Plan
If you have a high deductible health plan (HDHP) and end up needing an emergency or elective surgery that brings you closer to or exceeds your deductible, consider what other procedures or services you can add to this plan year. as Caroline McClanahan explains for Forbes. … “By being careful about your care, you can preload several services in one year, and you only need one large deductible.”
After her husband needed emergency tests (he’s fine), McClanahan realized that their annual deductible would easily be exceeded. This left them a loophole:
As a former star athlete, he has several chronic musculoskeletal problems. After he recovered from the accident, I advised him to check every part of his body and undergo all the necessary physiotherapy. I’m not that “in need of medical attention,” but I had skin and allergy issues that I could take care of this year. In addition, I stocked up on allergy medication for the next year. By expanding all our help into one year, we were able to avoid seeing a doctor the next year. The plan worked great.
Let’s put aside how confusing it is that you need to develop a health care strategy in general in the US to the point of not going bankrupt. This is the state of American healthcare in 2018.
Obviously, this isn’t an ideal situation, but it’s a good reminder that planning your care can save you tons of money. You will want to start earlier than a year to make sure you are doing everything on time.
For some other HDHP Hacking Tips, check out this post by Beth Skoreki, Editor of Lifehacker’s Health, and keep in mind all the freebies you can get without using a franchise.