{"id":12799,"date":"2026-04-21T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-04-21T09:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/medical-article.com\/?p=12799"},"modified":"2026-04-21T09:00:00","modified_gmt":"2026-04-21T09:00:00","slug":"listen-cheap-health-insurance-isnt-always-cheap","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/medical-article.com\/?p=12799","title":{"rendered":"Listen: Cheap Health Insurance Isn\u2019t Always Cheap"},"content":{"rendered":"

High-deductible plans can look like a deal, until the bills start rolling in. On this episode of the NPR podcast Life Kit<\/em>, reporter Jackie Forti\u00e9r breaks down what to expect and how to prepare.<\/p>\n

A lot of people choose their health insurance the way they shop for a flight \u2014 sort by the lowest price and click \u201cbuy.\u201d But what looks like a bargain upfront can come with costly consequences later.<\/p>\n

After some federal financial aid expired, many Americans found that high-deductible health plans were the only option they could afford.<\/p>\n

In a new episode of NPR\u2019s Life Kit<\/em> podcast, KFF Health News reporter Jackie Forti\u00e9r and podcast host Marielle Segarra discuss what these plans are, and why they can feel so confusing. Imagine paying $100 out-of-pocket for a routine doctor visit that used to cost you $20. Imagine shouldering thousands of dollars in bills before your insurance pays a cent.<\/p>\n

Still, for some people \u2014 especially those who rarely need medical care \u2014 high-deductible plans work. Listen to the episode to explore how timing your care and taking advantage of free preventive services can help you make the most of your coverage.<\/p>\n

KFF Health News<\/a> is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF\u2014an independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about KFF<\/a>.<\/p>\n

USE OUR CONTENT<\/h3>\n

This story can be republished for free (details<\/a>).<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

High-deductible plans can look like a deal, until the bills start rolling in. On this episode of the NPR podcast Life Kit, reporter Jackie Forti\u00e9r breaks down what to expect and how to prepare. A lot of people choose their health insurance the way they shop for a flight \u2014 sort by the lowest price…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":12800,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12799","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/medical-article.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12799"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/medical-article.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/medical-article.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medical-article.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12799"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/medical-article.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12799\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medical-article.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/12800"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/medical-article.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12799"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medical-article.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12799"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medical-article.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12799"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}