Understanding Health Insurance: Premiums, Deductibles, and How They Work
Learn the basics of health insurance, including premiums and deductibles, and how they impact your medical costs. Get tips on choosing the right plan.
File
How insurance premiums and deductibles work
Added on 09/26/2024
Speakers
add Add new speaker

Speaker 1: Health insurance can get pretty complicated, but typically, the point is to pay some money every month so that when you have an accident or sickness strikes, your medical costs aren't so expensive that they bankrupt you. Two of the most important terms in health insurance are premiums and deductibles. Your premium is that monthly cost. For many people who work for companies that offer health insurance, this premium comes out of your paycheck automatically. Your deductible is very different. It's a number that signifies an annual threshold, and it's distinct for every plan. Let's say it's $1,000. That's the amount of money that you need to spend out of pocket on health care each year before your insurance starts covering your bills. Deductibles range from a couple hundred dollars to several thousand. These terms are related in one simple way. Usually, plans with higher monthly premiums, meaning you're paying more every month, often have a lower deductible, meaning your insurance company will start paying sooner. You might want to pick a plan like this if you know you will have significant medical costs next year. And the reverse is usually true, too. Lower monthly premiums usually mean a higher deductible. This is probably better for healthy people who are willing to take a little more risk with their costs. Here's how that works in practice. Let's say you pay a $100 premium every month, and you have a $1,000 annual deductible. You hurt your knee, go to the doctor, and find out you need to repair a torn meniscus. The surgery costs $5,000. You pay the first $1,000, and so long as it's in network, your insurance then starts to kick in. Most plans pay a percentage of the remaining balance, typically around 80%. So of the $4,000 you still owe, your insurer will cover $3,200. That brings your total medical bill up to $1,800, even though the whole surgery costs $5,000. Of course, there are other costs and terms to keep in mind when talking health insurance, like co-pays and coinsurance, out-of-pocket limits, and knowing how your plan differs for providers in network versus out of network. But that's for another video. In the meantime, here's to a healthier you.

ai AI Insights
Summary

Generate a brief summary highlighting the main points of the transcript.

Generate
Title

Generate a concise and relevant title for the transcript based on the main themes and content discussed.

Generate
Keywords

Identify and highlight the key words or phrases most relevant to the content of the transcript.

Generate
Enter your query
Sentiments

Analyze the emotional tone of the transcript to determine whether the sentiment is positive, negative, or neutral.

Generate
Quizzes

Create interactive quizzes based on the content of the transcript to test comprehension or engage users.

Generate
{{ secondsToHumanTime(time) }}
Back
Forward
{{ Math.round(speed * 100) / 100 }}x
{{ secondsToHumanTime(duration) }}
close
New speaker
Add speaker
close
Edit speaker
Save changes
close
Share Transcript