Health insurance + free care?

Post date: 2018-12-10 04:51:18

I'm currently eligible for a 100% discount at the hospital that I get all of my medical care from. I'm trying to pick a plan from the health insurance marketplace, but my premium will go up significantly from this years' if I choose any plan that covers my regular doctors, who are all at this hospital. If I'm getting free care anyway, should I just choose a catastrophic plan with a low deductible?

I'm eligible for a 100% discount the next 6 months, at which point I will reapply, but I don't expect anything to have changed in the next 6 months, so I will likely get this again (this is the second time I have been approved for it). I would make sure to select a plan that covers my current prescriptions. The discount applies to hospital and physician services, including emergency room.

I basically have three options:

1) A silver plan that covers my doctors and prescriptions and has a low deductible, but costs 50% more than my current premium.
2) A silver plan that covers my prescriptions but NOT my doctors and has a low deductible, but costs 60% LESS than my current premium.
3) A bronze plan that covers my prescriptions and NOT my doctors and has an extremely high deductible but costs almost nothing.

Please assume I am at a point where an extra $50 a month means a lot. Is there any reason I shouldn't just choose the bronze plan? My paranoia/play-everything-safe is making me lean towards option 2 because I know catastrophic plans are Bad News, but if I get all my care through this hospital (which is large and has many locations and different kinds of specialists) is it worth the extra money? You are not my financial advisor, etc.

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