Cheap Healthcare: Is Your Low Healthcare Premium Really Saving You Money?

Cheap healthcare. That is what we are all looking for, right? Well, take it from someone who recently felt the effects of cheap healthcare; cheaper is not always better. Or at least that's what I thought when I was faced with tragic health events.

A little more than two years ago I signed up for a great little healthcare plan through my husband's job. The healthcare plan was with a MAJOR company and it touted being a "bargain". And, I have to admit, a bargain it is. I spend only $60.00 a month to insure 6 people. This amount for healthcare is well under the previous monthly rate we were paying of $320.00. But, there were a few downsides.

The downsides of my "bargain" healthcare were clear. The major negative was a HUGE deductible per person to the tune of $1000.00. But, no one in my family ever gets sick and we have never experienced a medical emergency so I brushed off the deductible. Other than that the healthcare plan covered the first three doctors visits a year per person for a minuscule $20.00 co-pay and the first three prescriptions per person at a $10.00 co-pay. For two years we skated under the medical radar with this coverage, that is, until my annual physical this year.

I was delighted (sarcasm) to find out that I was going to need major surgery and quickly. My healthcare coverage would now be put to the test. I was given two weeks to prepare and during those two weeks every ounce of my resolve would be tested. The $1000.00 co-pay I thought I would never need to worry about was now in full effect and every doctor and testing facility I visited before surgery wanted their piece of the pie on a prepay basis. You see, my healthcare coverage shows up on a computer screen for any medical facility that wants to look and with only a two week period to prepare, no one had the time to post a claim to my account before I was shoved on to another doctor and another bill. First my family physician, next the gynecologist, on to the radiologist and finally off to the hospital for blood work and preregistration. By the time I was headed into surgery, I had prepaid everyone and was left flat broke.

How did this ordeal with my healthcare end up? Well, the hospital missed the deadline for submitting the bill and was docked $14,000, I overpaid the gynecologist and was refunded the money and I ended up repocketing all the money I had paid out.

Cheap healthcare is essential for many Americans to retain any coverage at all. I am lucky I was able to produce the funds I needed upfront to prepay the open hands before surgery, but I can not complain. Over the two years I selected the "bargain" healthcare I was able to save more than $6000.00 in healthcare premiums. I was not required to pay out that amount...so in the end I will continue with the "bargain" healthcare coverage. I am saving money in the long run by prepaying in times of medical crisis!

For more information on healthcare plans and what they mean visit: Healthcare Explained