The 2026 Open Enrollment season will be remembered for notably high deductibles and max out-of-pocket amounts. It will also be remembered as being the enrollment season that Congress was gridlocked and the year the expanded tax credits ended.

Finding a health plan requires prioritizing several factors like networks, prescription coverage, deductibles and pricing. Inevitably, when premium prices increase, people turn to plans with higher deductibles and maximum out of pocket amounts. How can other insurance policies help offset this risk?

Accident or critical illness plans are becoming a more prevalent add-on to health plans outside of employer coverage. These plans can be purchased for a relatively low monthly fee and will step in to cover the costs associated with medical expenses caused by injury or diagnosis of a critical condition.

Let’s consider this example: While he was cleaning his gutter, John fell off his ladder and experienced a compound fracture in his arm. This fall necessitated an ER visit, x-rays, surgery, multiple orthopedic visits and subsequent PT. Those services cost $25,000.

If he had chosen the Standard Bronze plan on the Marketplace from any of the six carriers in Nebraska in 2026, his medical plan would have a deductible of $7,500 and a maximum out of pocket of $10,600. If John had an accident plan with a $10,000 benefit bank, he would be able to submit the invoices for medical expenses incurred from the fall and the follow-up visits and be reimbursed to the maximum of $10,000. He would then only be paying the remaining $600 of his plan’s requirement before his insurance plan would then step in to cover the remaining $15,000.

With his accident plan, he would be able to cover his entire deductible and then whatever subsequent coinsurance or copay amounts for the remaining $10,000 of his benefit.

Without an accident plan in place, he would have been responsible for the entire $7,500 deductible and would have paid the remaining coinsurance amount on his own without having a way to recoup any of his expenses.

There are options to offset the risks with high-deductible health plans and your licensed insurance agents at On Point Insurance Agency (InsuranceOnPoint.com/Contact-Us) are ready to help you find the right combination of plans to help you cover your medical expenses.