Jackie Fortiér

You know, he spends thousands of dollars a year just on premiums.

That doesn't leave a lot left over.

So he and his wife only see a doctor when it really feels unavoidable.

And he told me that he would go to the doctor more if he had more traditional insurance.

But with a high deductible plan, he's just not comfortable doing that.

So he only goes when he feels like he really has to.

There is an advantage to meeting your deductible early in the year if you can.

I talked with Caitlin Donovan with the Patient Advocate Foundation, and she said it does pay off to sort of strategically schedule those big ticket medical treatments.

So most deductibles reset on January 1st.

And again, if you can afford it, meeting your deductible sooner can make the rest of the year significantly cheaper, especially if you have a chronic condition.

This one surprises a lot of people.

As with most insurance in the U.S., even if you have a high deductible plan, many preventive services must be covered by law with no out-of-pocket costs from you.

So this includes things like annual checkups, many vaccines and immunizations, and screenings for a lot of cancers.

There is a whole list and these services are free when you go to an in-network provider.

So you should really take advantage of those.

It's really important to treat your deductible like a bill that you might have to pay.

It doesn't mean that you're going to hit it every year, but if you have like a $4,000 deductible, it can help to slowly set aside money during the year so that a surprise medical issue doesn't become a huge financial crisis.

Some people essentially build their own medical emergency fund, and there is a way to help you do that.

It's called a health savings account.

An HSA.