\n<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\tBy Jackie Forti\u00e9r<\/strong><\/a>\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\tApril 21, 2026\t\t<\/time>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\tArticle HTML\t\t\t\t<\/label>\n\t\t\t\t<br \/>\n\t<span class=\"byline\">Jackie Forti\u00e9r<\/span><\/p>\n<p>High-deductible plans can look like a deal, until the bills start rolling in. On this episode of the NPR podcast <em>Life Kit<\/em>, reporter Jackie Forti\u00e9r breaks down what to expect and how to prepare.<\/p>\n<p>A lot of people choose their health insurance the way they shop for a flight \u2014 sort by the lowest price and click \u201cbuy.\u201d But what looks like a bargain upfront can come with costly consequences later.<\/p>\n<p>After some federal financial aid expired, many Americans found that high-deductible health plans were the only option they could afford.<\/p>\n<p>In a new episode of NPR\u2019s <em>Life Kit<\/em> podcast, KFF Health News reporter Jackie Forti\u00e9r and podcast host Marielle Segarra discuss what these plans are, and why they can feel so confusing. Imagine paying $100 out-of-pocket for a routine doctor visit that used to cost you $20. Imagine shouldering thousands of dollars in bills before your insurance pays a cent.<\/p>\n<p>Still, for some people \u2014 especially those who rarely need medical care \u2014 high-deductible plans work. Listen to the episode to explore how timing your care and taking advantage of free preventive services can help you make the most of your coverage.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/kffhealthnews.org\/about-us\">KFF Health News<\/a> is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF\u2014an independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kff.org\/about-us\/\">KFF<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h3>USE OUR CONTENT<\/h3>\n<p>This story can be republished for free (<a href=\"https:\/\/kffhealthnews.org\/news\/article\/listen-health-care-helpline-life-kit-high-deductible-plans-out-of-pocket-costs\/view\/republish\/\">details<\/a>).<\/p>\n<p><\/textarea><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t<button type=\"button\" class=\"btn btn-secondary btn-sm copy-btn\" data-clipboard-target=\"#republish-content\">Copy HTML<\/button><\/p>\n<div class=\"modal-details\">\n<p>We encourage organizations to republish our content, free of charge. Here\u2019s what we ask:<\/p>\n<p>You must credit us as the original publisher, with a hyperlink to our kffhealthnews.org site. If possible, please include the original author(s) and KFF Health News\u201d in the byline. Please preserve the hyperlinks in the story.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s important to note, not everything on kffhealthnews.org is available for republishing. If a story is labeled \u201cAll Rights Reserved,\u201d we cannot grant permission to republish that item.<\/p>\n<p>Have questions? Let us know at <a href=\"mailto:KHNHelp@kff.org\">KHNHelp@kff.org<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/kffhealthnews.org\/news\/article\/listen-health-care-helpline-life-kit-high-deductible-plans-out-of-pocket-costs\/\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Jackie Forti\u00e9r April 21, 2026 Article HTML Jackie Forti\u00e9r High-deductible plans can look like a deal, until the bills start rolling in. On this episode of the NPR podcast Life Kit, reporter Jackie Forti\u00e9r breaks down what to expect and how to prepare. A lot of people choose their health insurance the way they […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6579,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[270],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-6578","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-health-2"},"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6578","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6578"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6578\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6579"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6578"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6578"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6578"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\tArticle HTML\t\t\t\t<\/label>\n\t\t\t\t<br \/>\n\t<span class=\"byline\">Jackie Forti\u00e9r<\/span><\/p>\n<p>High-deductible plans can look like a deal, until the bills start rolling in. On this episode of the NPR podcast <em>Life Kit<\/em>, reporter Jackie Forti\u00e9r breaks down what to expect and how to prepare.<\/p>\n<p>A lot of people choose their health insurance the way they shop for a flight \u2014 sort by the lowest price and click \u201cbuy.\u201d But what looks like a bargain upfront can come with costly consequences later.<\/p>\n<p>After some federal financial aid expired, many Americans found that high-deductible health plans were the only option they could afford.<\/p>\n<p>In a new episode of NPR\u2019s <em>Life Kit<\/em> podcast, KFF Health News reporter Jackie Forti\u00e9r and podcast host Marielle Segarra discuss what these plans are, and why they can feel so confusing. Imagine paying $100 out-of-pocket for a routine doctor visit that used to cost you $20. Imagine shouldering thousands of dollars in bills before your insurance pays a cent.<\/p>\n<p>Still, for some people \u2014 especially those who rarely need medical care \u2014 high-deductible plans work. Listen to the episode to explore how timing your care and taking advantage of free preventive services can help you make the most of your coverage.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/kffhealthnews.org\/about-us\">KFF Health News<\/a> is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF\u2014an independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kff.org\/about-us\/\">KFF<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h3>USE OUR CONTENT<\/h3>\n<p>This story can be republished for free (<a href=\"https:\/\/kffhealthnews.org\/news\/article\/listen-health-care-helpline-life-kit-high-deductible-plans-out-of-pocket-costs\/view\/republish\/\">details<\/a>).<\/p>\n<p><\/textarea><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t<button type=\"button\" class=\"btn btn-secondary btn-sm copy-btn\" data-clipboard-target=\"#republish-content\">Copy HTML<\/button><\/p>\n<div class=\"modal-details\">\n<p>We encourage organizations to republish our content, free of charge. Here\u2019s what we ask:<\/p>\n<p>You must credit us as the original publisher, with a hyperlink to our kffhealthnews.org site. If possible, please include the original author(s) and KFF Health News\u201d in the byline. Please preserve the hyperlinks in the story.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s important to note, not everything on kffhealthnews.org is available for republishing. If a story is labeled \u201cAll Rights Reserved,\u201d we cannot grant permission to republish that item.<\/p>\n<p>Have questions? Let us know at <a href=\"mailto:KHNHelp@kff.org\">KHNHelp@kff.org<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/kffhealthnews.org\/news\/article\/listen-health-care-helpline-life-kit-high-deductible-plans-out-of-pocket-costs\/\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Jackie Forti\u00e9r April 21, 2026 Article HTML Jackie Forti\u00e9r High-deductible plans can look like a deal, until the bills start rolling in. On this episode of the NPR podcast Life Kit, reporter Jackie Forti\u00e9r breaks down what to expect and how to prepare. A lot of people choose their health insurance the way they […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6579,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[270],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-6578","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-health-2"},"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6578","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6578"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6578\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6579"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6578"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6578"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6578"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}