High-Deductible Health Insurance: My Mama Told Me, You Better Shop Around…

And the high-deductible health insurance plan is all part of the new normal:

When Maria and Vadim Brodsky’s then 7-year-old daughter needed an MRI two years ago to examine a tumor in her head, they took her to a hospital in their health plan’s network and were dismayed to receive a $4,500 bill.

The couple had a $6,000 deductible on their family plan. And even though the bill was reduced to $3,000 — the price the provider and insurer had agreed to by contract — the Brodskys had to cover all of it.

The following year when their daughter needed another MRI, the Huntingdon Valley couple took her to a standalone facility and put the procedure on a credit card. The total bill: $600.

Welcome to the new world of health insurance where high deductible plans are growing more popular and the consumers in those plans often have an incentive to haggle with providers.

With High Deductible Health Plans, It Pays To Shop Around For Care

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