Navigating insurance
Tasha picked a high-deductible plan. Then she broke her wrist.
How supplemental products soften the blow.
Tasha picked a high-deductible plan. It saved her $200 a month on premiums.
Smart move — until she broke her wrist at a weekend soccer game. The ER bill: $3,800. Her deductible is $4,000. She owes almost all of it.
A bar showing Tasha’s $3,800 emergency room bill filling nearly all of her $4,000 deductible, with the full $3,800 falling to her.
Nothing is met yet, so the whole bill is hers.
What Tasha owes
- Deductible
- $4,000
- ER bill
- $3,800
- Tasha pays
- $3,800
But Tasha also has accident insurance.
It’s a supplemental product — separate from her health plan. It costs $28 a month and pays a flat cash benefit when you have an injury. For a fracture requiring treatment, it pays $2,500.
The $3,800 bill is split into two parts: $2,500 met by the accident insurance payout and $1,300 left to Tasha.
Accident insurance · $28/mo
The $3,800 bill
- Accident payout $2,500
- Left to Tasha $1,300
A fracture requiring treatment pays a flat $2,500 — the bill does not change the benefit.
That $2,500 goes straight to Tasha. Not the hospital. Not the insurer.
She uses it to cover most of her deductible. Total out-of-pocket pain: $1,300 instead of $3,800. The high-deductible plan saved her $2,400 a year in premiums. The accident insurance cost $336 a year. Net savings even after the broken wrist.
Tasha’s year added up: $2,400 saved on premiums, $336 paid for accident insurance, and $1,300 paid out of pocket on the wrist, leaving her $764 ahead.
-
Accident claim fracture treated
-
Cash to Tasha $2,500, paid to her
-
Bill settled $1,300 out of pocket
The year, added up
- Premium savings
- +$2,400/yr
- Accident insurance
- −$336/yr
- Out of pocket on the wrist
- −$1,300
- Net for the year
- +$764
+$764 ahead, even in the year she broke her wrist