Is it affordable health insurance or affordable health care?

The closer we get to 2014 the more confusing health care coverage is going to become, especially for individuals who will be using exchanges and for small groups. Is the goal low premiums or lower health care costs? Will younger presumably healthier individuals get a break on premiums? How will adverse selection among consumers shift costs to others?

But here is the key question, how much out-of-pocket cost risk will individuals be willing to accept in the quest for lower premiums. Supposedly younger Americans will be able to enroll in a high deductible plan ($6,000) and still qualifying as having insurance under the law… and the risk of up to $6,000 in out-of-pocket costs. One website I visited stated the following:

Our typical client saves $100 – $300 per month when they switch from a traditional health insurance plan to a Health Savings Account plan.

Keep in mind that to make a HDHP really beneficial you need to place money in a health savings account (HSA) so while the HSA helps meet expenses and can be valuable for long-term savings, it still has to be funded and the money to fund it may be equal to or greater than the premium savings for the HDHP.

Ya pays yer money and ya takes yer choice.

In making their choice of health care insurance coverage Americans must focus not on premiums, but on total real cost. That is, what you pay is the aggregate of fixed premiums and variable deductibles, co-pays, co-insurance and the cost of services that are not covered or limited in coverage.

Here is a tip. In any given year most people will incur modest or no health care expenses and thus people tend to overestimate their health care needs when selecting health insurance. High expenses are generally concentrated in a small segment of the population. Of course, there is still a risk, but that risk should be carefully balanced with the known cost of premiums for a year.

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• Health Insurance Premiums Might Increase (foxcharlotte.com)