Buying health insurance is hard, experts tell us. Even highly educated customers have trouble weighing monthly premium vs. deductibles and copays - especially since many Americans don't know offhand what terms like "deductible" and "coinsurance" mean. To help, many have called for a "total cost estimator" that will ask users about their current medical usage and then estimate what their total yearly costs are likely to be under each plan.
This year, healthcare.gov has delivered. The "Preview Plans and Prices" feature, which asks a handful of questions about age, income and household size before delivering price quotes, now includes a total yearly cost calculator. It's optional, easy to use, and only adds one question before showing plans and prices (two, if you count the question whether you want to use it).
I don't like it. At least, I don't like its prominent placement; I think it should be a Step 2 offering, after you see plans and prices. I fear it will make some people focus on the wrong number, and the wrong question. It leaves out a core factor in the insurance equation: risk.
Take the case of a single 40 year-old man earning $17,000 a year in Las Vegas (gender and age affect the estimated medical cost calculus). Here's the cheapest bronze offering -- the first result the user (let's call him Vince) will see:
This year, healthcare.gov has delivered. The "Preview Plans and Prices" feature, which asks a handful of questions about age, income and household size before delivering price quotes, now includes a total yearly cost calculator. It's optional, easy to use, and only adds one question before showing plans and prices (two, if you count the question whether you want to use it).
I don't like it. At least, I don't like its prominent placement; I think it should be a Step 2 offering, after you see plans and prices. I fear it will make some people focus on the wrong number, and the wrong question. It leaves out a core factor in the insurance equation: risk.
Take the case of a single 40 year-old man earning $17,000 a year in Las Vegas (gender and age affect the estimated medical cost calculus). Here's the cheapest bronze offering -- the first result the user (let's call him Vince) will see:
