If you have the option of choosing a higher deductible with your health insurance plan, you can lock in savings on your premiums. The downside of course is that you may have to pay more out-of-pocket if you use more medical services over the course of the year.
Consider this hypothetical example: if raising your deductible from $500 to $1,000 saves you $30 every month, then you are locking in a savings of $360 for the year ($30/month x 12). If you never were going to hit the $500 deductible anyway then the $360 is all savings in your pocket. However if you hit the full $1,000 deductible then you end up having paid more.
One way to soften the blow is with a Health Savings Account (HSA) where you put dollars away tax free to pay for qualified expenses. In this case the $1,000 deductible could come out of the HSA and yield you the tax savings.
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A LOZO expert posted this tip. |