California Health Insurance Premium Comparison
People often find it difficult to compare one health insurance plan with another. There are so many variables: doctor’s office visit charge, co-insurance, deductible, provider network, hospitalization benefits, stop loss or out of pocket maximum. It is a mind boggling amount of information. People get confused and don’t know where to start to compare one medical insurance plan in California with another.
To address that need, we have developed the handy chart below to assist people to easily compare the amount of money they will spend for medical care based on the benefits of the plan, the premium and a few important factors. (Remember this is an easy to use chart – not a thorough comparison of each variable in a California health insurance plan.)
We’ve also created an easy-to-use health insurance comparison chart that you can download, print out and use.
To use this chart, you will need to know only 3 items about a health plan:
- monthly premium (the amount you pay the California insurance company each month)
- annual deductible (the amount you pay before the company pays claims)
- out of pocket maximum (the maximum you pay if you get really sick, also called “stop-loss”)
Steps to complete:
- input the monthly premium then multiply by 12 to determine the annual amount you will pay the insurance company for your medical care. Congratulations, you have just calculated the amount of money you will pay if you are perfectly healthy and never see a doctor, hospital or get a prescription filled. (A. Best Case Scenario)
- input the annual deductible.
- add the annual premium and the annual deductible and you have just calculated the total amount of money you will pay before the insurance company pays any money. Some people want the insurance company to pay sooner, others want a lower monthly premium and are O.K. if the insurance company pays after the patient has paid a lot. (B. Amount you pay before the insurance company pays.)
- Input the annual out of pocket maximum for the health insurance plan.
- Add the out of pocket maximum to the deductible and the annual premium and you have calcultated roughly the total amount you would have to pay if you got VERY seriously ill. Generally, the health insurance companies pay all medical expenses after someone reaches the out of pocket maximum. (C. Worst Case Scenario)
California Health Insurance Premium Comparison
Plan 1: _________ Plan 2:__________
___________ Monthly Premium ___________
A.___________ Annual Premium ____________
(Amount you pay if you never get sick or do to Dr.)
+
___________ Annual Deductible ____________
+
B.___________ Ann. Prem + Ded. ____________
(Amount you pay before the insurance company pays anything)
___________ Out of Pocket Max. ____________
(OOP Max.)
C.___________ Prem. + Ded.+ OOP ____________
(Maximum annual amount you pay if you get REALLY sick)
A.___________ BEST CASE ____________
(Amount you pay if you never get sick or do to Dr.)
C.___________ WORST CASE ____________
(Maximum annual amount you pay if you get REALLY sick,