Insurance Deductibles

Insurance can be confusing. Don't be surprised by high prices at the start of the fiscal year.

Most insurance plan deductibles reset in January--another popular month for that is June or July, depending on your employer's fiscal year.

Why does this boring insurance thing matter to you? It affects your amount due for office visits (including psychotherapy.) Deductibles usually range from $500-$3,000 (yours may be higher or lower.) What that means is that for any non-preventative medical care you receive, you need to pay the contracted insurance rate to your provider until that deductible is met.

For example, if your contracted rate for psychotherapy is $75 for your insurance, then you need to pay the $75 until your deductible is met either from those sessions or a combination of those sessions plus other "accumulators" in your plan (usually this includes medical care for "sick" visits. Sometimes it includes pharmacy/prescription costs.)

I know the contracted rate for most insurance plans, so if you have a deductible, and you're a current client, I can look that up for you. If you have a high deductible, you probably can open a debit card linked HSA or FSA account. Ask your Human Resources department or Benefits manager for more information about how this works with your employer. I think self-employed individuals can also have private HSAs at the bank, but these aren't funded at all by your employer (sad.) This can be a good way to use tax-exempt or at least close to tax-exempt funds that you save for healthcare directly toward your healthcare.

My suggestion to anyone who is in treatment for ANY ongoing condition is to choose a plan with a lower deductible if it's at all affordable. Since psychotherapy is weekly treatment, usually, that adds up fast over the course of a month.

photo credit: kenteegardin Pink Piggy Bank via photopin (license)