👉 The term "deductible" has a long and complex history in finance and health care that goes back to ancient times, but it quickly became synonymous with what we now call the "cost of care."
In 2015, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) was signed into law, which lowered deductibles significantly. The ACA's policy was designed to help lower-income Americans afford more comprehensive health insurance coverage. At first glance, the deductible may seem like a straightforward financial concept: it represents how much you need to pay each year for your insurance premium. But upon closer inspection, we realize that this figure can hold significant weight in determining the overall cost of medical care. For example, let's say an individual has monthly expenses of $500 per month for their primary health insurance and $400 per month for dental and vision coverage. If they have a deductible of $300 (which is the lower limit), what would that mean in practice? It means they would pay just over $1,200 for those three items annually. The deductibles can impact every aspect of your health insurance policy. For instance, if your premium rate increases beyond certain benchmarks, the deductible will also increase. This means you may have to pay a higher percentage of what you'd normally need to pay each year in order to maintain coverage. And speaking of rates and premiums, we all know that one thing that can significantly affect deductibles is health conditions like diabetes or heart disease
