Health Plan Comparison
Compare any number of plans on premium, deductible, coinsurance and out-of-pocket maximum, and find the level of care where they swap places.
"Billed" means the amount your providers charge in a year, before the plan pays its share. This is a simplified model: it applies one deductible and one coinsurance rate, and ignores copays, separate drug deductibles, out-of-network billing and any employer contribution to a savings account. Nothing is uploaded.
The switchover is one procedure, not a diagnosis
The usual framing is that a high-deductible plan suits the healthy and a low-deductible one suits the sick. Right shape, wrong scale. Against a $1800 plan with a $3,500 deductible, a $3,600 plan with a $500 deductible takes over at $2,750 of billed care — one unremarkable procedure, a scan and a specialist, or a short course of anything expensive. Not a chronic condition. A single year with something in it.
| Billed care | High deductible | Low deductible | Cheaper |
|---|---|---|---|
| $0 | $1,800 | $3,600 | High deductible |
| $500 | $2,300 | $4,100 | High deductible |
| $1,500 | $3,300 | $4,300 | High deductible |
| $2,750 | $4,550 | $4,550 | exactly level |
| $5,000 | $5,600 | $5,000 | Low deductible |
| $10,000 | $6,600 | $6,000 | Low deductible |
| $30,000 | $8,800 | $7,600 | Low deductible |
The $2,750 row is the crossing itself, where both plans cost exactly $4,550 and neither is cheaper. Use no care at all and the gap is simply the premium difference, $1,800 — which is the number the cheap plan is sold on, and the only level of care at which it is the full story.
The cheaper plan has the worse bad year
The out-of-pocket maximum is the number nobody quotes and the one that bounds the disaster. Here the cheap plan's worst possible year is $8,800 and the expensive plan's is $7,600. So the plan that saves $1,800 a year while you are well is also the one that costs $1,200 more if the year goes badly. Both are true at once, and only one of them is on the marketing. Past that ceiling the totals stop rising no matter what is billed, which is the point of the cap and the reason a high deductible is not unboundedly risky — just more expensive at the top.
Some plans lose at every level
It is worth checking whether a plan can win at all before arguing about how much care you expect. A $4,800 plan with a $1,000 deductible and a $5,000 out-of-pocket maximum never beats the $1,800 plan above — not when you are well, not when you are ill, not in the worst year imaginable. The premium gap alone exceeds everything the lower deductible could ever save, so there is no level of care that rescues it. Enter every plan you have been offered and the comparison will show you if one of them is in that position.
How to use
- Enter each plan with its premium, deductible, coinsurance and out-of-pocket maximum.
- Set the care you expect to be billed for in a year.
- Read which plan is cheapest there, and where two of them cross.
- Check the worst-possible-year row before deciding.
Frequently asked questions
Is a high-deductible plan only for healthy people?
That is the right shape and the wrong scale. Against an $1,800 plan with a $3,500 deductible, a $3,600 plan with a $500 deductible takes over at $2,750 of billed care — one unremarkable procedure, a scan and a specialist, or a short course of anything expensive. Not a chronic condition, just a year with something in it.
Is the cheaper plan also the safer one?
Often the opposite, and it is the part nobody quotes. In the comparison above the cheap plan worst possible year is $8,800 and the expensive plan is $7,600. So the plan that saves $1,800 a year while you are well costs $1,200 more if the year goes badly. Both facts are true at once.
What is the out-of-pocket maximum for?
It is the ceiling on what you can be asked for in a year, premiums excluded, and it is what stops a high deductible from being unboundedly risky. Past that point your costs stop rising no matter what is billed — so the question is not whether a bad year is survivable but which plan makes it cheaper.
Can a plan be worse at every level of care?
Yes, and it is worth checking before arguing about how much care you expect. If one plan premium exceeds everything a lower deductible could ever save, no amount of illness rescues it. Enter every plan you have been offered and the comparison will show whether one is in that position.
Why does 0% coinsurance change the worst case?
Because with no coinsurance you can never be charged more than the deductible, so the out-of-pocket maximum printed on the paperwork is unreachable. The worst year here is worked out from the actual cost rules rather than assumed to equal that cap, which for such a plan would overstate it by thousands.
What does this model leave out?
A great deal. It applies one deductible and one coinsurance rate, and ignores copays, separate prescription deductibles, out-of-network billing, and any employer contribution to a health savings account. Those move real numbers, so treat this as a way to see the shape of the trade rather than a quote.
How much care should I assume?
Last year is the best anchor most people have. Work backwards too: the tool gives the crossing point, and it is easier to judge whether you are likely to pass $2,750 of billed care than to guess a total in advance.
Does this send anything anywhere?
No. Every figure is computed in your browser, and nothing is uploaded or stored.
🔒 This tool runs entirely in your browser. Nothing you enter is uploaded, logged, or stored.