How Much Should You Be Spending on Ancillary Insurance?
June 15, 2017
Reviewed and Updated by Anastasia Iliou,
Ancillary Insurance Costs
How much should you be spending on ancillary insurance policies? The short answer is, it depends. It depends on a lot of factors.
Everything from your weight to your gender matters when determining your health insurance costs, and ancillary products like vision coverage and life insurance vary drastically.
Dental, Vision, and Hearing
If you have Medicaid or a Medicare Advantage plan, you may already have dental, vision, and/or hearing included in your coverage. If not, you may want a separate plan. Keep in mind that these plans are commonly bundled, so you may not need to pay three premiums.
Dental coverage costs will average at about $350 per year or $30 per month. That may seem like a high cost for one type of service, but consider that one crown can cost about $1,000, and a dental plan will cover anywhere from 80-100% of that. It’s worth the cost.
Without insurance, a vision appointment will cost an average of $200, and glasses and contacts can cost over $300 per year depending on prescription strength and brand. Monthly costs average at about $30 per month. Hearing coverage falls into the same range.
More on dental, vision, and hearing policies.
Cancer, Heart Attack, and Stroke
Cancer plans can start as low as $15/month, but can reach up to $40 or $50/month. Heart attack and stroke coverage are usually bundled together for about $20/month. These three types of plans are among the most wallet-saving as care costs for these conditions can total in the upper thousands.
More on cancer, heart attack, and stroke policies.
Short-Term Care and Hospital Indemnity
Monthly premiums for short-term care policies generally fall in the $30-$40 range for basic coverage and can be over $100 to include homecare and other services. Since these policies are only active for a year or less, total costs may be smaller than those for a long-term policy.
Hospital Indemnity plan premiums vary based on how much coverage you need. They can be as little as $12 per month or as much as $300 per month.
More on short-term care and hospital indemnity.
Life & Final Expense
Life insurance costs vary more drastically than any other form of coverage because consumers have so many options. You can request $500,000 worth of coverage or $1,000,000’s worth.
One of the first questions a carrier will ask is whether or not you are a smoker. Insurance rates for smokers are much more expensive than for nonsmokers because a smoker has much higher health risks. A 35-year old non-smoker may pay about $735 per month for a lot of coverage or closer to $200 per month for less coverage.
Final expense policies are based on personal choice. Funerals can cost upwards of $10,000, so you’ll end up paying anywhere from $10 per month to $20 per month depending on how much coverage you want for your final expenses.
More on life insurance and final expense insurance.
How much are you spending on ancillary insurance? Visit our post about getting ancillary coverage for FAQ’s and information about what you may need. If you need more questions answered, set up an appointment to speak with one of our agents by calling 1-844-431-1832.
