Insights:

No deductible and low deductible health insurance could be a good fit for someone who expects to need many health care services over the next year.

Find the best health insurance offers for you

Compare Quotes

Having health insurance with no deductible can help alleviate the stress of finding money to pay out-of-pocket when you need health care. Instead, no deductible and low deductible health plans offer higher premiums with the understanding that you won’t have to pay the deductible later. There are pros and cons, of course, but no deductible health insurance could be the medical and financial solution that your family has been seeking.

You can’t plan medical emergencies — they come out of nowhere and strike, leaving injury and damage in their wake. When you’re hurt, the last thing you want to do is worry about the cost of medical services, but with the cost of health care skyrocketing, it can be costly.

One health care cost that’s been on the rise over the past decade are deductibles. Rising deductibles means more out-of-pocket costs when members need health care.

According to new data from eHealth, the average deductible for health insurance marketplace plans in 2020 cost $4,364 for single coverage and $8,439 for families. Today, few families have that much money in savings, let alone when a costly accident occurs.

Employer-sponsored health insurance plans’ deductibles aren’t nearly as high, but they’ve still increased in recent years. Kaiser Family Foundation said the average deductible for an employer-sponsored health plan was $1,644 for single coverage in 2020. Twenty-six percent of employees have a health plan deductible of more than $2,000 for single coverage, according to Kaiser Family Foundation.

Key Takeaways

• No deductible and low deductible health insurance offers limited out-of-pocket costs for health care services but have much higher premiums than other health plans.
• Low deductible and no deductible health plans can cost over $1,000 more in premiums than health coverage with higher deductibles.
• When deciding on a health plan, you should analyze premiums and deductibles, as well as coinsurance, copays, and out-of-pocket maximums.
• You may benefit from health insurance with low deductibles if you have chronic illnesses, expect to become pregnant, need major surgery, or regularly visit doctors.

How does a health insurance deductible work?

A health insurance deductible is the price you pay for health care services before your health insurance company begins to kick in money for covered medical services.

“A medical deductible is simply the risk that you, the insured member, take from the health insurance company,” explains John Millen, Managing Partner of Millen Group in Richmond, Virginia.

The deductible covers your financial responsibility so you can receive medical care. It’s different from a copay, which is often due at the time of service.

Instead, a health insurance company doesn’t start paying for health care until after you’ve met the deductible.

Let’s look at an example. Say a procedure costs $10,000 and your deductible is $1,000. You have to pay $1,000 of your health costs before your insurance company steps in. Once you reach the deductible, you often have coinsurance, which is a percentage of what you have to pay for health care services.

So, let’s say that the bill is $9,000 after the deductible and you have to pay 20% coinsurance on your health plan. In that case, you would be responsible for $1,800 and the health insurance company would pay the remaining $7,200.

After you reach your plan’s out-of-pocket maximum, your insurer pays the full cost of your medical care costs until the end of the plan year.

“The out-of-pocket maximum amount is the most an employee or family will pay out of their own pocket, says Millen, adding that those maximums often exceed $8,000.

Some exclusions do apply, so carefully review the terms of your policy to see how your insurance company handles things like deductibles and out-of-network costs.

The amount of each health insurance deductible can vary, depending on the specifics of your exact health insurance coverage, so refer to your health insurance plan or ask your insurance agent for more details.

How much does health insurance with no deductible cost?

The average monthly cost of health insurance in the U.S. was $456 for an individual and $1,152 for a family, according to eHealth.

When you opt for zero-deductible plan, you’re likely to pay much higher premiums. That is because your insurance coverage costs the insurer more than if you were contributing toward costs with a higher deductible. With that higher risk and, in turn, higher costs, the insurance company charges more.

Millen explains the difference between a low and high deductible.

“A low deductible ($0 to $750) means you are willing to incur the medical cost risk and pay from your own checking account,” he says. “A high deductible ($1,400 and above for single coverage) means you are willing to trade a lower cost (i.e. premium) from the health insurance company in return for taking on more out-of-pocket costs (i.e. risk).”

Finding a health insurance plan with no deductible may be difficult depending on where you live. The marketplace plans use a tiered system of four different metal tiers to fit your personal needs.

Here are the typical insurance tiers from the health insurance marketplace:

Let’s take a look at the average monthly premiums from Ambetter, which offers plans through the marketplace in 20 states, for Gold plans, which have lower deductibles, and Bronze plans, which have the highest deductibles in the marketplace:

So, as you can see, you may pay more than $1,000 in premiums over the course of a year by going with a low deductible health plan rather than a high-deductible plan. However, a health plan with a low deductible can more than make up for those higher monthly premiums if you rack up hefty medical bills with a high-deductible plan.

Check our health insurance offers for you:

*Sponsored

	SmartFinancial Best Coverage Options, Avoid Tax Penalty, Save Hundreds Top Rated Health Plans at Low Cost Get a Free Rate From One of Our Licensed Health Agent Now! Available 24/7	Get a Quote
	NextGen Find these GREAT rates in 3 easy steps: 1. Compare the LOWEST rates you will find from Blue Cross of California and UnitedHealth. 2. Review all the best deals in San Mateo County in minutes. Get Covered & saving now!