I have the highest deductible I can get so the monthly premiums are less. I can afford a "broken arm" just not heart surgery Mostly all my insurance is good for is getting the insurance rate for paying doctors rather than the rate one without insurance would have to pay (and, most doctors won't see you if you don't have insurance of some sort). It's certainly important to have insurance, because big, bad things happen, but it is rarely a "benefit". It is often much more cost effective to pay out-of-pocket than to use insurance, even when you have insurance.

A lot of people don't understand what insurance is and what it is for and don't understand the arithmetic of it. I just think "life insurance" and that sort of gets me in the right frame of mind; oh, if I die, then someone can afford to bury me Health insurance isn't that much different; it's not meant for the day-to-day stuff like regular doctor visits and common prescriptions, but for the hurricanes, tsunamis, volcano eruptions, invasions from outer space, etc.

The average premium in the United States is $183 a month http://news.ehealthinsurance.com/pr/...ce-218305.aspx (mine is like twice that as I am not employed and too young for Medicare) and that comes to $2,196 a year (so even without any deductible one is already paying more than twice what a $20/session therapist costs). My deductible is $2600 a year so my premiums won't be $500+ a month, only $360 or so.

It's very important to do the premium x 12 with various deductibles to see what is less. I "usually" only see the doctor 4 times a year @ $85 a visit plus another several hundred in blood tests, etc. So, I end up paying my monthly premiums x 12 and getting no "discount" due to my deductible (in other words, the $65 is "mine", not the $13 with BCBS paying 80%). But, $85 x 4 is much less than $200 x 12 (the difference between a premium of $350 versus $550 if I elect a lower deductible).

Say I pay $350 a month in premium, that's $4,200 a year plus I'm responsible for the first $2600 of expenses, so, conceivably I could pay $6,800 a year (and then 20% of anything after that).

If I pay $550 a month in premium, that's $6600 a year, so I would want to be offered a $200 deductible or I'd be paying more with a lower deductible plan. But, deductibles with my plan start at $500. My "usual" medical expenses each year are only $85 x 4 = $340 + maybe $1,000 in testing. So, I actually pay $4,200 for premium and $1,340 to the doctor (deductible) for a total of $5,540 a year in medical. Even if I got 100% deducted with a lower deductible plan, I would still have to pay $6600 in premium so that would lose me $1060!

Many people go for the seemingly lowest cost plan but don't do the math for their particular needs and that can be costly.