Health insurance plans can seem like they’re written in secret code. Between trying to decipher mysterious acronyms—like HSAs, FSAs, and HDHPs—and remembering your portal password, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed. But digging into the details is well worth the effort, says Scott Spann, a financial planner with Financial Finesse, a provider of workplace financial wellness benefits. “Many of the people we work with feel overwhelmed with the process of choosing the right health insurance plan options,” he says. “The majority of Americans are anxious about rising premiums and choosing the right type of coverage. But as high deductible healthcare plans continue to grow in popularity, it’s important to at least take time to understand the basics.” In fact, he adds, “failing to take the time to review your options can be a costly mistake.”

Can’t find your decoder ring? This primer can help you get started (EdLogics members can find more in the Glossary of Terms on our Health Insurance page.)

1. Benefit: A treatment, test, or other healthcare that health insurance helps pay for.
2. Co-payment: A fixed amount you pay for a doctor’s visit, medication, or other healthcare expense. You usually pay it when you have the visit or get the medication.
3. Deductible: The amount you have to pay in a benefit year before your insurance kicks in. If your deductible is $2,000 and your first bill of the year is $3,000, then you would pay $2,000 of the bill, and your health plan would help pay for the rest.
4. Drug formulary: A list of prescription medications a health plan helps pay for.
5. Enrollment period: Period of time when people are allowed to sign up for a health plan. For many people, enrollment periods happen every November. You might be able to sign up at other times if you have a qualifying event, like losing a job or getting divorced.
6. Health savings account (HSA): A special savings account that you put money in for healthcare costs. You don’t pay taxes on money in HSAs, so you can save money. HSAs are usually used with high-deductible health plans.
7. High-deductible health plan (HDHP): Health insurance that costs less up front (lower premiums), but you pay for more of your healthcare costs before your insurance kicks in.
8. Network: A group of doctors, hospitals, and other healthcare services that work with your health insurance. Health insurance covers more costs for healthcare in-network than out-of-network.
9. Out-of-pocket: Healthcare costs your plan won’t pay for. You are responsible for paying these costs yourself.
10. Premium: A fee you pay regularly for health insurance. Most people pay their premiums every month, but it can vary from company to company.

The University of Maryland Extension had developed a unique program designed to deliver health insurance education to consumers. Just as Americans were beginning to understand how to work with Obamacare, congress is working on a replacement, the American Healthcare Act. It’s not surprising that health insurance is confusing to most people. In fact, nearly half of all adults say they can’t understand or act on the health information they get, and that includes information on how to find and use health insurance.

Now it it’s third year, trained educators have delivered the program through workshops in seven states. And the results show that the program is really making a difference.

• Participants saw a 25% increase in their confidence in making good health insurance decisions
• Participants saw a 15% increase in the likelihood they would take a positive action – like comparing insurance plans or researching if they could get cheaper medications

After review of the pre- and post-surveys and other data, the program administrators crafted a strong hypothesis:

“If confusion could be reduced and confidence and capability increased, consumers would be able to make Smart Choice health insurance decisions.”

Features of the program include:

• Explaining key terms that may be confusing to consumers, such as “copayment”, “deductible”, “HSA” and “PPO”
• Showing consumers how to make “good guesses” on what their out-of-pocket health expenses may be so they can better prepare and plan
• Detailing how consumers can save for health expenses using Flexible Spending Accounts and Health Savings Accounts
• Helping consumers understand the benefits and advantages of different types of insurance plans and choose the right plan for them
• Educating consumers about where to get reputable health insurance information and which sources shouldn’t be trusted

New opportunities are being explored to expand the program even further. Through technology even more consumers could benefit from the education.

For more information, visit the University of Maryland Extension web site.