How to Save On Unplanned Health Costs Due to Sudden Illnesses Many individuals take critical illness insurance to cover the costs of sudden or critical illnesses such as heart attack, organ transplant and cancer that a regular plan won’t cover. However, these plans are only limited to a few critical illnesses and emergencies. If you want a plan with wider coverage, you will have to pay more in premiums. However, there are exceptions to serious illnesses that these plans cover. Chronic illnesses are often not covered, and you may also not be given the benefits if a disease comes back, such as a second heart attack or stroke. Seniors need to be particularly careful of these insurances as there could be age limits and also limits for payout on some plans. Some insurance can also have “age reduction schedules”, so your potential insurance payout will diminish as you get older. High deductible health plans Many choose high deductible health plans or HDHPs that come with affordable premiums but they may have to pay a substantial amount as high deductibles if a serious illness strikes. Your deductibles could be nearly as high as covering the entire costs of mediations and treatment. For example, if your plan has $1000 as deductibles, you may have to cash out $1000 of your own money before your insurance provider starts covering most of your procedures and office visits. People with HDHP may consider making contributions to either a Flexible Spending Account (FSA) or Health Savings Account (HSA), both of which allow for tax benefits when used for qualified expenses related to healthcare. And let’s not forget copayments or copays that your plan may require you to pay every time you get a prescription filled or make a visit to a doctor’s office. Your prescription copay will vary from medication-to-medication. The higher the tier of your medication in your plan’s formulary, the higher your copay will be.