Things To Look At When Buying Health Insurance? 
Excellent question ! You essentially have 3 main variations on the theme when purchasing ObamaCare compliant major medical insurance ; 1 -RRB- Conventional plan designs with office visit & prescription copays and lower deductibles -LRB- pretty pricey these days -RRB- 2 -RRB- High deductible health insurance plans designed to work with a Health Savings Account -LRB- HSA -RRB- or a Health Reimbursement Arrangement -LRB- HRA -RRB- - becoming more common . 3 -RRB- Plans that fall in between , here you may see a plan with office visit copays and a high deductible applying to everything else , plans with prescription copays and a high deductible applying to everything else , or plans with more moderate deductible levels with all services subject to the plan 's deductible and co-insurance requirements but that also do n't meet the IRS requirements for being an HSA eligible plan . Simple , right ? First , determine if the doctors , hospitals and pharmacies you want to use are in-network providers for the plan you are interested in . Second , review you health and your history of health care consumption . Your needs and usage at 27 will probably be much different than when you are 47 . Try to pick a plan that you believe will meet your needs in the coming year at the best value . Determine if the plan you are interested in allows for direct access to specialists or whether it requires you to be referred out by your primary care physician first . Neither approach is bad but you should understand how you are supposed to access care in order to maximize your benefits and minimize your costs . Ask what your coverage is when you are outside of your immediate area . Increasingly you may find that you only have emergency care outside of a plan 's `` service area '' or perhaps no coverage at all . Do you have special needs ? A chronic illness or injury that requires ongoing treatment or expensive prescription medication requires extra homework . For example , some health plan 's pharmacy benefits cover HIV/AIDS medications at the lowest level -LRB- to them , highest for you -RRB- possible . Finally , compare monthly premiums . The lowest monthly cost , while always attractive , many not really be the lowest annual cost for you once you factor in some or all of the issues I have pointed out above . It may be worth another $ 50 a month in premiums to have a prescription copay instead of a deductible of up to $ 6300 to meet before your expensive medication is covered . 