Originally Posted by
hockeypilot44
I'll second that. It also seems that the planning tool is not an accurate representation of your medical expenses for the year. I know you can change it, but you would think you wouldn't need to. Everything almost always costs more than I'm expecting. There are a lot of loopholes in our plans.
I just take the emotion out of it every year. Keep track of what you spend out of pocket plus premiums for the year. (I actually have the past 3 years figures) Then during open enrollment spend and hour and "pretend" you were in every plan being offered for the prior few years. I look at the total cost for every plan and choose the cheapest. I don't think about the "what if" scenarios. They are statistically very unlikely to occur.
90% of us won't have what if scenarios that run us to the max out of pocket expenses. For 2015 if you choose the cheapest plan (Bronze HRA) and have a family, the worst case scenario is you will spend $12,900 plus your premiums. If your ENTIRE family was in a massive car accident, that is the most you would pay. If just one of you got very sick (Cancer) or had a major surgery, you would spend $6,400 plus premiums.