Some companies are trying something new: Instead of offering a group health insurance plan, they're giving workers a contribution to buy their own individual plans.
A hospital's cost calculator said her procedure would be $1,400 for patients without insurance. Instead, the bill was almost $18,000 and, her part was more than $5,000 — the balance of her deductible.
A cook at a senior center, Matthew Fentress is one of millions of Americans whose skimpy health insurance plans leave them vulnerable to huge out-of-pocket costs when they get sick.
