Of late high-deductible plans with lower premiums than other forms of insurance have grown in popularity. They provide health savings account (HSA) option with tax deferred contributions. The employees participating in these plans may optionally receive account contributions from their employers.
Sounds great. They offer considerable savings compared to other forms of insurance if either we need to see the doctors very rarely or have a major surgery or an upcoming baby delivery. But how about if we need to see doctor decent number of times of the year that may cost most of the deductible if not all?
It is highly probable that such visits are to a primary care doctor for typical fever, flu, travel related, EKG test, prescriptions etc which costs decent deductible. If we sum up costs from all these visits at the end of the year we may possibly might have spent more than a traditional PPO plan where we are only responsible for small co pays for each visit.
So knowing what our primary care costs is very important to minimize the deductibles. Most of the insurances offer portals to check the in-network doctors and how much they charge based on the medical condition. Patients are advised to review this information before they schedule a visit. Also there are independent websites that offer such information independent of these Insurance companies.
Cluvd offers “Primary Care” iOS and Android APP that provides the doctor costs and also provide comparative costs from nearby walk-in clinics in retailer stores. Users can submit the costs they incurred based on EOB they received from the Insurance provider to help other users looking for the same medical services.
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