Health Insurance Changes

Get ready for the world of consumer-directed health care, where you'll pay $1,050 to $5,450 out of pocket before the insurance company pays anything.

Many companies now offer high-deductible plans paired with health savings accounts -- HSAs -- as an option to their workers.

With traditional insurance plans, employers are basically giving employees credit cards and paying the bill for them at the end of the month, said Kate Kohn-Parrott, director of integrated health care and disability for the Chrysler Group.

With HSA-linked plans, workers are responsible for the first several thousand dollars of expenses, which makes monthly premiums much lower than with traditional plans, in which insurance companies pay a share of every doctor's office visit or trip to the emergency room.

The result is that employees will foot more of their own health-care tab and are responsible for saving to be able to do that.

Critics say the plans are just another tax-sheltering tool for the healthy and wealthy and are worried it will result in those who aren't wealthy putting off preventive care and ending up in dire straits when they haven't saved enough to pay for unexpected medical needs.