Health Insurance

[Derek Grey]

hello all,
I need to buy a short term (1 to 6 months) health insurance. Does anyone have any idea on a good insurance plan etc.???
I have seen this site EHealthInsurancebut I am not sure if I should
1. A low monthly payment (about $57/month) with high deductible ($2500/yr)
OR
2. A higher monthly payment (about $97/month) with low deductible ($250/year)
Any advice/help would be greatly appreciated.

[John Smith]

1. A low monthly payment (about $57/month) with high deductible ($2500/yr) OR
2. A higher monthly payment (about $97/month) with low deductible ($250/year)
Well, let's do the math. One assumption is missing. What's the probability that your medical bill will be X amount of dollars for the next 6 months?
First, let's assume that there is a 10% chance that it will be $1,000 for the next 6 months.
Then your expected pay under options (1) and (2) will be
Pay1 = (57*6)*0.9 + (57*6 + 1000)*0.1 = $442
Pay2 = (97*6)*0.9 + (97*6 + 250)*0.1 = $607
From here, it follows that option (1) is better.
Now, let's reverse the probability and say that there is a 90% chance that your medical bill will be $1,000 for the next 6 months.
Then your expected pay under options (1) and (2) will be
Pay1 = (57*6)*0.1 + (57*6 + 1000)*0.9 = $1242
Pay2 = (97*6)*0.1 + (97*6 + 250)*0.9 = $807
From here, it follows that option (2) is better.

[Derek Grey]

Eugene,
That was really helpful, thank you.
I think the chances are only 10% so I might go with option 1.
One small doubt though...about "deductible".
Here's the definition according to EHealthInsurance:
A deductible is the amount of money you must pay each year to cover your medical care expenses before your insurance policy starts paying.
Now does that mean that I have to keep paying for everything untill I reach $2500 (if my plan says $2500 deductible) and only after that the insurance company starts paying???

[Gail Schlentz]

Originally posted by San Tiruvan:
Eugene,

One small doubt though...about "deductible"....
Now does that mean that I have to keep paying for everything untill I reach $2500 (if my plan says $2500 deductible) and only after that the insurance company starts paying???

Yup - absolutely. But you still come out ahead unless you have a bunch of medical bills.

[vasu maj]

Hi there,
I think it is a good thing to do some reseacrh about the provider before signing up. These websites are portals hosting policies of different companies. As they do not guarantee anything about the providers, it is our responsibility to know about the strengths and weaknesses of these companies (financial, service etc).

Good luck,
Vasu