How Much Does It Cost for Private Medical Insurance?

Over 20 million Americans didn’t have health insurance in 2020. While getting private insurance is always a smart option, the cost of private medical insurance always worries potential buyers.

So how much does it cost for private medical insurance? What affects those prices?

That’s what we’re here to look at today. Read on to find out more about the average cost of private medical insurance and how those prices can change.

What is Private Medical Insurance?

Americans often get their medical insurance through their employer or in some sort of group. Private medical insurance is purchased by a user off of the market.

Private insurance means it’s being purchased by a private company as opposed to something like the ACA market. You typically only buy insurance at specific times during the year.

How Much Does it Cost for Private Medical Insurance?

So let’s get back to the question: how much does it cost for private medical insurance?

According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, the average cost of private medical insurance is about $7,700 for single coverage and over $22,000 for families in the U.S. Those averages, however, don’t tell the whole story.

There are plenty of variables when it comes to medical insurance costs. When exploring those variables, it always starts with discussing premiums.

Premiums

Premiums are basically monthly fees you pay for your own medical insurance. These fees often cost about $400 per person and about $1,000 for a family.

Discussions about premiums are usually top priorities when talking about buying private medical insurance. Knowing how much you’re paying each month factors a lot into the final annual price.

Deductibles

A deductible is the maximum amount of money you need to spend on medical expenses before your insurance kicks in to help you cover them. Private medical insurance premiums can be very low depending on the plan.

There are also co-payments, which is the amount you pay for medical expenses once your insurance covers part of it. If a doctor’s visit costs $120 and your copayment is $20, the insurance pays $100 of that amount.

Out-of-Pocket Limits

Those who pay a lot for medical services throughout the year could reach their out-of-pocket limit. If you hit this limit, your insurance pays for all of your medical expenses for the rest of the year.

What Affects Premiums?

While there are plenty of factors that determine your medical insurance expenses, premiums are the biggest indicator of your total cost. This is because other factors affect your premiums.

For example, plans with low deductibles, low copayments, and low out-of-pocket maximums often have high premiums. Plans with high deductibles and other payments, on the other hand, have higher premiums.

This makes sense since it balances out the cost for the provider. While most plans don’t exist on two ends of this spectrum, it’s worth understanding the trade-off when it comes to premiums.

If you’re looking for insurance plans with premiums that fit your budget, check out https://theinsurancestuff.com/.

Understanding the Cost of Private Medical Insurance

When asking yourself “how much does it cost for private medical insurance,” understand that there are plenty of factors that affect the end price. Use this guide to understand what affects your private medical insurance costs.

For more informative articles on health insurance and other topics, check out the rest of our site!