Everything You Need To Know About Catastrophic Health Insurance

As the name suggests, catastrophic health insurance is a specific type of health coverage option which can be the last resort in case of severe medical emergencies. The insurance plan is specially designed to offer you financial security to help you deal with major medical expenses. Generally, the consumers have to pay low premiums but when medical emergencies occur they can have a high deductible to cover a huge amount of medical expense. If you’re unable to buy full-fledged health insurance from the Health Insurance Exchange or through your current employer, you should at least look for any basic health coverage to cover primary health benefits. This will help you to protect against medical emergencies such as unexpected illnesses or other disasters. Here are a few must-know things you should understand well before you buy one.

What Is Included In A Catastrophic Health Insurance Plan?

These types of plans are intended to offer protection from excessive out-of-pocket expenses for disastrous health events. However, they have to adhere to the minimum essential benefits interpreted in the Affordable Care Act (ACA), but before you reach your deductible that ideally is very high, you are required to suffer huge out-of-pocket costs.

If you are opting for a catastrophic health care plan, you will not be required to pay expensive premiums that you usually pay for standard health insurance plans. But before you reach your ultimate point of deduction, it covers very few health expenses. This is where it will cost you a lot. However, the low premium you’re paying monthly or annually is designed to maintain the cost-effective balance of the plan.

The emergency health insurance will only be available to you if you’re under 30-year of age or if you’re qualified under a hardship exemption. As per the latest update of 2020, the deductible for all personal catastrophic health insurance plans is $8,150.1 under the Affordable Care Act.

What Does the Catastrophic Health Insurance Plan Cover?

Although the name might sound to you that this insurance might only cover medical emergencies, actually the plans offer you a basic range of preventive coverages such as screenings, immunizations, shots, etc at no cost. To avail of those basic preventive services, you don’t have to reach the deductible. You can visit the healthcare department’s website to access the full list of available services. This also includes a minimum of 3 visits to your primary health care physician.

Aside from these benefits, you will have to pay all expenses on your own until you reach your deductible limit. Once you reach your deductible, this insurance will act like any other standard major medical insurance available in the market to cover almost everything. Ambulance service, hospitalization, Prescription drugs, emergency services to name a few. Terms may vary to insurance providers out there.

Health Savings Account Option

In case you are an employee of a particular organization and you fall under a high-deductible health program, the combination of an HSA and catastrophic health insurance plan can be beneficial to save tax-free money needed to apply toward medical expenses.

Do You Really Need Catastrophic Health Insurance?

Honestly speaking, This kind of Health Insurance is an effective option for those who can’t afford expensive medical care plans. If you want to settle with a cheaper option to safeguard yourself and your family from catastrophic medical situations, then this is your cup of tea. If you don’t fall sick frequently, possess a strong immunity system, and are not bothered with compensating out of pocket costs for minor health expenditures, then we will recommend opting for a catastrophic health insurance plan.

But before deciding on buying times of emergency insurance plans, please keep in mind that your medical expenditures might go higher due to the terms and conditions of the plans. The deductible range is higher than traditional Health Care plans as well. So, if you get sick on a regular basis then the idea of the low premiums is not going to help you much.

Therefore, you ought to take into account your affordability before you go for a catastrophic health insurance plan. Once you have done the math, you don’t need to worry too much about your healthcare costs. For more info, you may visit the Federal Government website, or call the government helpline number.