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California Health Insurance Deductibles Restricting Medical Care
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When medical coverage premiums are too high, many Americans opt for higher deductible plans, even if they would prefer something with greater coverage. Now it appears that California health insurance plans with such high deductibles are causing unhealthy state citizens to skip important treatment.
It's a sad but common tale. There are roughly 3 million Californians enrolled in high-deductible health coverage plans because they can't afford to pay high premiums. This means that if they are sick or injured, they could get stuck with a bill as high as $5,000 dollars before coverage kicks in.
And of course, even after it kicks in health coverage doesn't pay for everything.
Now research in California health insurance and the citizens who purchase it have found that there is a connection between high-deductible plans and avoiding care, even when people are sick. Consumers can't afford to get treatment, so they aren't going to the doctor.
And these are the people who have insurance.
However, this is a dangerous cycle that can end up costing more in the long run. Men and women who don't get much-needed treatments and don't go to regular checkups are more likely to end up hospitalized, costing more in the long run. It's better to catch a sickness early on, when it's treatable and less expensive, then later when the cost for treatment will go much higher.
This news regarding California health insurance comes at the same time that a "health benefits exchange" has been established through the healthcare bill. If state-exchanges are up and running in 2014 then deductibles will be capped at $2,000 for individuals and $4,000 for families.
However, the healthcare bill is still hotly debated, and whether or not the legislation will still be intact by 2014 when it takes effect is impossible to tell.
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