Real cost of illness is in the fine print

In this report: Overview; Good plans and bad plans; The Wild West of insurance; What you can do; 7 signs the plan is junk; Does your plan match the federal standard?; The wrong coverage can be devastating; What regulators need to do next

This article was featured in the May 2009 issue of Consumer Reports magazine.

The wrong coverage can be devastating

Last reviewed: May 2009

This article is the archived version of a report that appeared in the May 2009 Consumer Reports Magazine.

Source: Karen Pollitz, Georgetown University Health Policy Institute, using real policies and claims data from a state high-risk pool. Columns of figures do not add up exactly because all numbers are rounded.