{"id":3479,"date":"2011-07-07T10:06:45","date_gmt":"2011-07-07T15:06:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nchealthplans.com\/news\/?p=3479"},"modified":"2017-03-16T17:01:56","modified_gmt":"2017-03-16T21:01:56","slug":"making-cents-out-of-a-blue-options-hsa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nchealthplans.com\/news\/2011\/07\/making-cents-out-of-a-blue-options-hsa\/","title":{"rendered":"Making Cents out of a Blue Options HSA"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Many people choose a copayment <\/a>plan because they want the predictability of knowing exactly how much they will pay out of pocket for doctor visits and prescriptions. However, many people who purchase these plans don\u2019t realize they are paying hundreds of dollars extra each year for the convenience of copayments. In a traditional copayment health plan<\/a>, you generally pay for health care like this:<\/p>\n

+ You pay a relatively high monthly premium for coverage.<\/p>\n

+ When you see an in-network doctor for an office visit, you pay a copayment.<\/p>\n

+ When you fill a prescription, you pay a copayment.<\/p>\n

+ When you go to the hospital, have a procedure, or have lab tests, you pay a fee that is applied toward your deductible.<\/p>\n

+ When you meet your deductible, you begin paying coinsurance, until you meet your coinsurance maximum for the year.<\/p>\n

Any copayments you pay for office visits <\/a>and prescriptions are not applied to your deductible. Costs for services such as lab tests, procedures and hospitalizations are applied to your deductible.<\/p>\n

The truth is 73% of customers with a traditional copayment plan don\u2019t reach their annual deductible. This means you can end up paying high-dollar premiums, month after month, pay copayments visit after visit, and yet never reach your deductible. And even after you meet your deductible, you still must continue to pay copayments for office visits and prescriptions.<\/p>\n

The High Deductible Health Plan<\/a><\/p>\n

With a high-deductible health plan, you pay a much lower premium, but you pay your health expenses up front until you meet your deductible.<\/p>\n

+ Instead of paying copayments for in-network office visits and prescriptions, you pay the negotiated discount rate for your medical care, until you meet your deductible.<\/p>\n

+ After you\u2019ve met your deductible, you pay coinsurance until you meet your out-of-pocket or coinsurance maximum (the deductible plus the coinsurance maximum).<\/p>\n

+ With a high-deductible health plan, no matter how much care you need, you\u2019ll never pay more than your out-of-pocket maximum<\/a> for the plan year for in-network covered services.<\/p>\n

+ High-deductible health plans always offer 100% coverage for preventive care, such as annual physicals, immunizations, mammograms etc., regardless of whether or not you\u2019ve metyour deductible.<\/p>\n

All qualified medical expenses are applied to your deductible \u2014 this includes prescriptions, office visits, emergency room visits, procedures, lab tests and more. For a list of qualified medical expenses visit www.irs.gov and reference Publication 502.<\/p>\n

Information in this article is\u00a0from a BCBSNC post and\u00a0can be found at\u00a0bcbsnc.com.<\/p>\n

For more information on health insurance coverage in North Carolina<\/a>, please visit our website at www.nchealthplans.com<\/a> or call our toll free number 888-765-5400 and speak with one of our professional agents. Our agency provides coverage for health insurance in North Carolina through Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina (BCBSNC). <\/a>You may qualify for a 15% healthy lifestyle discount if you are in excellent health. Call us for details.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Many people choose a copayment plan because they want the predictability of knowing exactly how much they will pay out of pocket for doctor visits and prescriptions. However, many people who purchase these plans don\u2019t realize they are paying hundreds of dollars extra each year for the convenience of copayments. In a traditional copayment health […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[448,449,447,146],"class_list":["post-3479","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bcbsnc-insurance","tag-copayments","tag-health-coverage-premiums","tag-health-saving-accounts","tag-high-deductible-plans"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nchealthplans.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3479","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nchealthplans.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nchealthplans.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nchealthplans.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nchealthplans.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3479"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.nchealthplans.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3479\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8585,"href":"https:\/\/www.nchealthplans.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3479\/revisions\/8585"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nchealthplans.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3479"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nchealthplans.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3479"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nchealthplans.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3479"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}