Someone recently told me that for people with chronic illnesses high deductible health care plans (HDHPs) are only good for healthy people. So I ran the numbers…in my state, with Blue Cross Blue Shield Illinois, he’d be wrong.
Chart Showing High Deductible Health Plan Savings For Someone With Chronic Illness.
Copays + prescriptions assumes 1 doc visit a month + $20 prescription a month.
This doesn’t include the possibility that the HDHP’s yearly deductible could be partially covered tax free by a Health Savings Account (HSA) and so offer a substantial discount…HSAs are the only current option for people who are not self employed for deductible tax savings (the self employed should consider an health reimbursement arrangement (HRA)).
Of course this scenario doesn’t account for the fact that currently people with chronic conditions CAN’T get health insurance of any kind on their own.
Numbers are based on a friend of mine who has Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy (RSD) a rare-ish condition that causes her pain nerves to not stop firing. She needs very expensive prescriptions and has a $30K surgery about once every year or so.