Toward the end of the year, when you may have used up your deductible, it's a good time to look into health care services you have been putting off. | Adobe Stock
Toward the end of the year, when you may have used up your deductible, it's a good time to look into health care services you have been putting off. | Adobe Stock
• Most Americans who get health insurance through their employer have an annual deductible.
• You can save money during the last few months of the year by taking advantage of your health insurance if you've already met your deductible.
• Most health insurance plans cover allergy testing and treatment.
While many people save money by shopping on Black Friday, another way to save money this holiday season is by making the most of your health insurance if you've already met your deductible, according to Dr. Matt Hershcovitch of SoCal Breathe Free Sinus & Allergy Centers.
Eighty-five percent of American workers who receive health insurance coverage through their employer in 2021 had a general annual deductible for single coverage that they needed to meet before the plan paid for most health services, according to the 23rd Employer Health Benefits Survey conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation. For workers employed by small companies, the average single coverage deductible was $2,379. Workers employed by large firms had an average deductible of $1,397.
Once your deductible has been met, Stamford Heath recommends making the most of your health insurance coverage and saving money by scheduling appointments and testing before the end of the year. Recommendations include getting your annual physical and refilling prescriptions. People over 45 can get a colonoscopy, and women over 40 can get a mammogram. Stamford Health also recommends taking care of lab work or other diagnostic testing.
Most insurance plans cover allergy testing and treatment, so once your deductible has been met, costs for allergy tests and treatments could be very low or even zero cost, according to Family Allergy.
Winter is the perfect time to prepare for spring allergies. If you discover you have allergies in the fall and your allergist recommends allergy shots for treatment, you can begin the allergy shots before your deductible resets, which will save you money in addition to beginning to build up your body's defense against spring allergens.
"There are still allergy shots available, and that is an option for people," Hershcovitch told NW Riverside News. "However, there are several other techniques that are also highly effective."
Sublingual immunotherapy is one of those treatments, Hershcovitch said.
"This has largely, in many ways, replaced weekly allergy shots, and people can actually do this from their home, where they take a pill that dissolves under their tongue and treats the allergies appropriately," he explained. "The sublingual immunotherapy therapy is extremely effective, just as effective as allergy shots."
Biologics are another option available at sinus and allergy clinics.
"Biologics are a broad range of medications that are often an injection, but only once a month, to down-regulate your body's response to these allergens," Hershcovitch said. "So both sublingual immunotherapy and monthly biologic injections can actually be extremely effective and preferable to the weekly allergy injections, which are still an option for those who are interested."
If you're interested in learning more about diagnosis or treatment of allergies, please take this Sinus Self-Assessment Quiz.
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