5 Health Insurance Myths That Are Costing You Money

A few beliefs about health insurance come up often enough in conversations with clients that they're worth addressing directly — because acting on them can genuinely cost you money or leave you exposed.

Myth: "I'm young and healthy, I don't need coverage"

Being healthy lowers your risk — it doesn't eliminate it. Accidents and injuries don't check your age or your gym schedule first. The right plan isn't really about your current state of health; it's about offsetting the financial risk of the unpredictable "what if," and that risk exists for everyone.

Myth: "All health insurance plans are basically the same"

In practice, plans differ enormously — in provider networks, cost structure, what's covered at what percentage, and how claims get handled. Two plans with similar-looking premiums can leave you in very different financial positions if you actually need care. Treating them as interchangeable is how people end up underinsured without realizing it until it's too late.

Myth: "A high deductible always means a bad deal"

High-deductible plans get a bad reputation, but they're not inherently worse — they're a different tradeoff. Lower premiums in exchange for more exposure upfront, often paired with a Health Savings Account that lets you save for medical costs tax-advantaged. Whether that tradeoff is smart depends entirely on your health, your savings habits, and how much unpredictability you can absorb — not a blanket rule.

Myth: "Open enrollment is the only time I can get covered"

That's true for ACA marketplace plans, but not for private-market coverage, which generally isn't tied to that calendar at all. If you're shopping outside the marketplace, you have far more flexibility on timing than the "open enrollment" framing suggests.

The pattern behind all four

Each of these myths leads to the same outcome: people either overpay for coverage they don't need, or underinsure themselves assuming a plan will behave a certain way when it doesn't. The fix isn't complicated — it's just having someone walk through your specific situation instead of applying a generic rule of thumb to it.