California health
insurance
Catastrophic health insurance
Finding the Best Catastrophic California
Health Insurance Value
Current Catastrophic health plan best values (detail below)
Really only insuring 2013 since most plans will have to switch Jan 1st
2014 (detail below)
Health Net has notified us that no 2013 rate increase is planned on
catastrophic plans
Quote and Compare
California Catastrophic Health Plans
(doctor networks, brochures, exclusions can be accessed by clicking on
plan name through the quote) |
Rates on the California health market have
almost doubled in the last 18 months with more on the way. Catastrophic or
Major Medical as it is sometimes called has always made some
sense but now, more than ever. The very definition of what
constitutes as as catastrophic has changed. Just five
years ago, catastrophic insurance on the California market might
be a $2500 deductible. Today, $2500 is probably just high
of average and most people are actually looking at $3500
deductibles on average for
individual California health
insurance. Let's take a look at what catastrophic health
insurance really is, whether it makes sense, and which plans on
the market currently fit the bill.A
quick explanation of catastrophic California health
insurance
 Catastrophic coverage options are actually
pretty different than what most people expect when the ask or
search for such plans. Usually, people have ideas about
$10K or $20K deductibles with no maternity, medications, or
office visit. Unfortunately, the market has many mandates
placed on it and the least expensive plans on the market with
legitimate carriers are much richer than these. Maternity
is now mandated on all plans effective 7/1/2012. Before we
go into the current plans that meet our definition, let's define
catastrophic coverage.
Health insurance is all about the big
(catastrophic) bills these days
Catastrophic insurance refers to
insuring the big bills through a carrier and reducing the
monthly premium to the lowest possible amount. This
is usually addressed with a
high deductible. A deductible
is amount that you must pay first when medical expenses are
incurred before the carrier will start to share the cost
(usually in the form of a percentage share called co-insurance).
This is the main benefit way to reduce premium costs. The
quick and easy way to determine if this is a good approach for
you is to run your instant quote above and then annualize the
premiums. Take the monthly premium shown in the instant
quote and multiply up by 12. How you can contrast
deductibles and annual premium (also take into account max out
of pocket which reflects your true out of pocket exposure).
For example, if by going up $1000 in deductible, you save
$800/year in premium, that's not a bad trade off. This
comparison usually works in your favor for the richer plans and
less so as you go down the benefit list. For that reason,
it's hard to justify a deductible over $1500-2500 and
consequently, that's where the bulk of the market it.
California health insurance originally was about protecting from
larger expenses but became richer when PPO's and HMO's finally
helped to control the premium increases in the early 90's.
We started to see no deductible plans with rich benefits at that
point. It didn't last long and premiums continued their
climb higher at a faster rate. We're now back to where we
started...high deductibles to cover the big bill. So what
makes sense on today's market?
What catastrophic plans work best on
today's California health market?
Currently, the closest we have to true
catastrophic health insurance is
Anthem's Clear Protection
$3300, Shield's Savings HSA plans, and
Health Net's new PPO
plans which are generally the lowest priced plans on the
California market. Generally, the lowest
priced plans are by definition, what people mean by catastrophic
coverage and this isn't a bad take on it, especially since even
the lowest priced major medical plans on the market are still
pretty comprehensive in light of the mandated benefits.
All this will change Jan 2014 when health reform kicks in since
the benefit levels are mandated as well and the highest
deductible plan on the market might be very rich (and very
expensive) by today's standards. We'll update our site to
reflect how this affects any notion of catastrophic coverage in
California. You can always get
updates on
California health reform and Exchange.
Related Articles
Current catastrophic health insurance
options in California
Anthem Blue Cross of California Clear
Protection 3300 plan
Anthem California Feb 2013 Rate increase including
catastrophic plans
Blue Shield California March 2013 Rate increase including catastrophic plans
The low cost Health Net
Advantage Plans
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