With High Deductibles, Men Don't Go For Emergency Care
Here's one of the really bad reasons to have a high deductible policy: when the premium rises, men don't go to the hospital for emergencies. According to The New York Times, "Men, it turns out, are more likely to delay treatment for serious conditions under high-deductible plans, in contrast to women, who tend to be more selective and cut back care for minor ailments only." "Such plans generally have lower monthly premiums than traditional health plans but higher out-of-pocket costs — sometimes, $4,000 or $5,000 for a family, or even higher," Ann Carrns writes. About a third of workers now have such plans. And that number is likely to grow, since lower-cost plans on the new health care marketplaces created by the Affordable Care Act are likely to have relatively high deductibles. I have that kind of policy, too. Only, in my case, since I tend to go to the doctor when I need to (my husband calls me a hypochondriac), we wind up with outrageous medica...