Experts: Understand your Colorado health benefits before you need them
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Many Coloradans got new health insurance plans this year and experts said the best time to get to know your benefits is before you need them.
Beyond basic coverage, many plans offer free preventive services, mental health support and access to wellness apps, options often going underused because you might not realize they are available.
Amy Jordan, vice president of consumer experience for UnitedHealthcare, recommended becoming familiar with your health plan’s website, which can help you find providers, compare costs and understand treatment options.
"What are your benefits, what is covered and what's not covered and what you can expect," Jordan outlined. "Preventive benefits are oftentimes covered for everyone, and so really understanding what's included in that and what you have that coverage for."
Jordan stressed it is important to know how your plan is structured in terms of your premium, co-pays and deductibles, coinsurance and out-of-pocket maximum. She added those and other health care terms are defined on the websiteJustPlainClear.com.
Joy Dockter, senior health attorney at the Western Center on Law and Poverty, said when you choose a plan from an online marketplace, the plan costing the least up front can be a lot more expensive later on.
"Bronze plans with the cheaper up front premium look appealing but they are dangerously expensive if you actually need medical care," Dockter pointed out. "People tend to end with a $10,000 bill that's on them before their insurance will pay anything."
She said a silver plan is often the most cost-effective option. Dockter added while you need to pay all your necessary medical bills, how you pay them can be important, too.
"We recommend never putting hospital bills on a credit card, because medical debt does not get reported on credit reports," Dockter advised. "As soon as you pay a medical bill with a credit card, it is no longer medical debt, it's consumer debt."
UnitedHealthcare contributes to our fund for reporting on health care.
