Health Insurance Comparison Calculator
Cheapest premium isn't cheapest plan. Compare two health plans on total annual cost — premiums plus what you'll actually pay through the deductible, coinsurance and out-of-pocket max — at your expected level of medical spending.
Total cost across your whole year of spending
The lines cross at the breakeven point — below it the lower-premium plan wins, above it the lower-deductible plan does. Slide your expected spending above to see where you land.
How this works
Premiums are guaranteed: you pay them whether you see a doctor or not, so the calculator counts 12 monthly premiums for each plan no matter what. The variable part is what you pay for care, and it moves through three stages:
- Below the deductible — you pay essentially the full cost of covered care out of pocket.
- After the deductible — the plan starts sharing, and you pay only your coinsurance (often 20%) of each bill.
- At the out-of-pocket maximum — your care costs stop. The plan pays 100% for the rest of the year.
Total annual cost is simply premiums + your share of care, capped so your care spending never exceeds the out-of-pocket max. We compute that for both plans at every spending level from $0 to $50,000 and chart the two lines so you can see exactly where one plan overtakes the other.
Health insurance FAQs
The deductible is what you pay before the plan starts sharing costs. The out-of-pocket maximum is the most you'll ever pay in a year for covered, in-network care — once you hit it, the plan pays 100%. The deductible is the start of cost-sharing; the out-of-pocket max is the ceiling. Premiums count toward neither.
It's the share of a covered bill you keep paying after you've met your deductible, usually 20%. On a $1,000 bill after the deductible, you'd pay about $200 and the plan pays the rest — until your total spending reaches the out-of-pocket maximum, after which the plan covers everything.
When you're generally healthy and expect light medical use, because the much lower premiums typically save more than the higher deductible costs you. It's also the only plan type that lets you open an HSA. If you expect heavy use, a lower-deductible plan usually wins overall — which is exactly what the chart above shows.
A Health Savings Account is a tax-advantaged account available only with a qualifying high-deductible plan. Contributions are tax-deductible, growth is tax-free, and withdrawals for medical costs are tax-free — a triple tax break. Unused money rolls over every year and the account stays yours, which makes pairing an HSA with an HDHP a strong way to offset a high deductible.