Which Health Plan Is Cheaper?

Doing a thorough comparison of health care plans is difficult.

But there is an imperfect, yet fairly, simple way to check whether a high-deductible plan might qualify for “no-brainer” status, meaning, it enables you to save on health care no matter how often you go to the doctor.

Here’s how to do it:

Start with your premiums

Figure out how much you would have to pay in total annual premiums for low- and high-deductible plans. Do this by multiplying the cost of the plan per paycheck by the number of paychecks you get per year: 12 if paid monthly, 26 if biweekly, 52 if weekly. Read More

By RICHARD H. THALER from NYT Business Day