Compare plans and benefit strategies

Before enrolling in an insurance plan, make sure you understand your options and how to maximize your benefits.

How to think about your choices

Health insurance coverage through Thatch involves a set of related decisions:

• How you want to spend on healthcare—such as preferring lower monthly costs or cheaper copays and prescriptions
• Which doctors, hospitals, and prescriptions you access (in‑network or out‑of‑network)
• How to use your employer’s allowanceallowanceThe amount an employer makes available to help employees pay for coverage or eligible expenses.—for premiumspremiumThe monthly amount paid to maintain health insurance coverage, regardless of whether any services are used that month., for qualified medical expensesqualified medical expense (QME). A type of healthcare cost that counts as eligible for specific plans or accounts. (QME), or a combination

Thatch doesn’t just present you with plans to choose from. Thatch structures its presentation to provide true apples-to-apples comparisons.

QME coverage

You can only use your Thatch allowanceallowanceThe amount an employer makes available to help employees pay for coverage or eligible expenses. on QME if your employer enables this functionality. You can ask your employer directly about this, or use Ask Thatch to find out.

Your Thatch allowance

Your employer sets a healthcare allowanceallowanceThe amount an employer makes available to help employees pay for coverage or eligible expenses. for you. This is the maximum amount your employer contributes toward your heathcare each month.

When you select a plan through Thatch, your premiumpremiumThe monthly amount paid to maintain health insurance coverage, regardless of whether any services are used that month. is paid using your Thatch allowanceallowanceThe amount an employer makes available to help employees pay for coverage or eligible expenses.. If you choose a plan that exceeds your budget, your employer deducts the remaining amount from your paycheck.

When comparing plans in Thatch, you’ll usually see:

• The Thatch allowanceallowanceThe amount an employer makes available to help employees pay for coverage or eligible expenses. assigned to you (and how dependents affect this amount, if at all)
• How different plan choices use that allowanceallowanceThe amount an employer makes available to help employees pay for coverage or eligible expenses.
• Whether a given plan choice:
  • Fully fits within your allowanceallowanceThe amount an employer makes available to help employees pay for coverage or eligible expenses.
  • Requires additional contributions
  • Leaves an unused balance that could fund other eligible benefits such as dental and vision coverage or QME purchases

This approach allows you to calculate your total health care strategy, instead of focusing solely on the premiumspremiumThe monthly amount paid to maintain health insurance coverage, regardless of whether any services are used that month..

Personal budget guidance

For previous employers, you probably only had one or two plans to choose from, not dozens as you might with Thatch. To simplify the decision-making process, Thatch provides personal budget guidance in the dashboard.

Thatch asks about your health priorities, and estimates what you'll spend for given plans. For example, you may care most about:

• Keeping certain medical providers in-networkin-networkA provider that has a contract with the patient's insurance plan. Visiting in-network providers typically costs less than going out-of-network.
• Covering your prescriptions
• Planning for worst case scenarios
• Capping monthly costs

Tell Thatch what's important and then you'll get a list of matching plans, along with estimated costs, and how each may or may not be a great fit for you.

You can additionally compare recommended plans to determine the best fit. You can see side‑by‑side comparisons with:

• Estimated monthly and yearly costs
• DeductiblesdeductibleThe amount a patient pays out of pocket for covered services before the insurance plan begins to pay., out‑of‑pocket maximums, and common copays
• Network details and whether your preferred providers are in network

Dental and vision

If your employer offers dental and vision coverage through Thatch, you’ll see these plan options after you select your medical insurance.

In-network and out-of-network considerations

Most medical plans distinguish between in‑network and out‑of‑network care. Thatch helps you:

• Search for doctors and facilities you already use
• Check whether they’re in network for each plan
• See how that status affects your likely costs

If you want to continue using key medical providers, you can either rule out plans where those providers are out of network, or look for a plan where your remaining Thatch balance can offset your out-of-pocket cost. (If your employer allows you to use a Thatch balance.)

Bring Your Own Plan (BYOP)

When comparing plans, you'll also see a Bring Your Own Plan (BYPO) option. If you choose this option, instead of choosing from a list of possible plans, you’ll:

• Provide details about your existing coverage
• Review how BYOP affects your costs

If you're bringing your own plan, you can decide how you want to pay for it (ranked from easiest to more effortful):

• (Preferred method) Thatch generates a payment card for you to use, you add it to your insurance companyinsurance companyThe company that provides insurance coverage. Also called an insurance provider.'s autopay, and Thatch makes the monthly payments
• Thatch generates a bank account for you to use for ACH payments, similar to the card (only suggested if your insurance companyinsurance companyThe company that provides insurance coverage. Also called an insurance provider. doesn't accept debit card payments)
• You pay the premiumspremiumThe monthly amount paid to maintain health insurance coverage, regardless of whether any services are used that month. yourself as you previously have, then submit receipts of your premiumpremiumThe monthly amount paid to maintain health insurance coverage, regardless of whether any services are used that month. payments to Thatch for reimbursement from your employer's allowanceallowanceThe amount an employer makes available to help employees pay for coverage or eligible expenses.

With all three options, the full premiumpremiumThe monthly amount paid to maintain health insurance coverage, regardless of whether any services are used that month. amount should be paid. If this amount is more than your employer's allowanceallowanceThe amount an employer makes available to help employees pay for coverage or eligible expenses., the overage will be deducted from your paycheck.

warning

A potential pitfall of BYOP is you must ensure the plan remains in good financial standing, and handle any coverage escalations directly with your insurance companyinsurance companyThe company that provides insurance coverage. Also called an insurance provider..

Next steps

After you’ve explored your options and understand the tradeoffs involved, enroll in a plan.