How many of Dana’s 12 decisions did you get right?
Count your correct answers.
What the twelve decisions had in common
Dana never needed special knowledge. She did four things again and again. She asked for dates and prices in writing. She checked her plan’s own directory before trusting a front desk. She kept the Explanation of Benefits and compared it with every bill. And she told the Marketplace when her life changed.
The year in twelve lines
- After a layoff, price COBRA and the Marketplace before choosing.
- Extra savings on the deductible exist only on Silver plans.
- For a non-emergency, use an in-network urgent care center.
- “We take your insurance” is not the same as “in your network.”
- An Explanation of Benefits is not a bill. Keep it.
- A bill higher than the EOB deserves a phone call.
- Ask the pharmacist and the doctor about lower-cost alternatives.
- Keep coverage until the new plan starts, and report income changes.
- Fund an FSA with what you can predict.
- Never follow a link in a refund text. Log in yourself.
- Ask how a new symptom will change the billing of a physical.
- Dispute a wrong collection in writing, with documents.
Dana and the events in this quiz are fictional and written for teaching. The dollar amounts are illustrations.
Keep going
Sources: HealthCare.gov, guidance on losing job-based coverage, cost-sharing reductions, reporting income changes and preventive care; Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, consumer guides to medical bills and Explanation of Benefits; Internal Revenue Service, Publication 969; Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, debt collection guidance; Federal Trade Commission, consumer alerts on impostor scams. This quiz is general information, not financial, legal or medical advice.