Health Care Cost Basics: What They Are and Ways to Save

Putting aside money for emergencies, like replacing a roof or a major car repair, is one of the age-old mantras of personal finance.

But today there’s one major potential expense that, until relatively recently, few working people rarely thought about: Paying for out-of-pocket medical costs.

Why? Because until the past decade or so, most employer health care plans covered the majority of employees’ medical costs.

Not anymore.

The spiraling cost of health care has resulted in many employers shifting more of these expenses to employees. Monthly premiums for traditional health care plans that used to be fairly reasonable now may cost $600 per month or more. And most of these plans have annual deductibles — money you must pay out of pocket for medical expenses before the plan takes