Jackie Fortiér

Your deductible is the amount that you have to pay for covered services before your insurance starts sharing costs.

I talked to Madison Burgess.

She's an elementary school teacher in San Diego, and she was shopping around for a good deal for her husband.

And now I have regret.

So her husband has to meet an almost $6,000 deductible before insurance will pay.

Is that common?

Yeah, it's kind of middle of the road.

The IRS actually defines high deductible health plans.

The minimum deductible for this year is $1,700 for an individual.

But some individual, like catastrophic deductibles, can exceed $10,000 for a single person a year.

That would be a pretty big shock if you haven't had a high deductible plan before.

Yeah.

And I think high deductible plans can be like confusing because the timing of the costs is so different.

So under a traditional plan, you know, you might pay like $20 copay to see your doctor.

But under a high deductible plan, you pay the full negotiated price of the visit until you hit your deductible.

So you might pay, you know, $100 for the same doctor visit.

Yeah.

I think it really changes how some people choose to use their healthcare.

I talked with Thomas Lehman.

He's a dog walker and pet sitter in the Atlanta suburbs, and he's had a high deductible plan for a few years now.