Slides for AFCPE Health Insurance Pre-Conference

1. Barbara O’Neill, Ph.D., CFP®
Financial Resource Management Specialist
Rutgers Cooperative Extension
oneill@aesop.rutgers.edu
How Health Insurance Works:
A Curriculum for High School
Students

2. Where I Work

3. NJ Department of Education
(NJ DoE) Grant Funding:
Guaranteed by State Law!
http://sebsnjaesnews.rutgers.edu/2014/05/rutgers-
designated-new-jersey-financial-education-provider/

4. Increased Annual Funding
Source Since 2014
Based on credit union profits from holding public
funds and administered by the NJ DoE
Rutgers Cooperative Extension receives money
annually and then we figure out how to spend it

5. NJ DoE Funding
Deliverables
• Financial Education Boot Camps
• Financial Education Teacher Exchanges
• Webinars in cooperation with NJCFE
• Lesson Plans (aligned with state standards)

6. Lesson Plans to Date
• Risks and Benefits of Entrepreneurship (85k PDF)
• Compound Interest: Your Best Friend or Worst Enemy (106k PDF)
• Know the Score: Credit Score Modeling and Impacts (360k PDF)
• The Impact of Inflation (128k PDF)
• Monetary Transaction Tools (572k PDF)
• Civic Financial Responsibility (511k PDF)
• Insuring and Protecting Property Insurance (112k PDF)
• Comparing Insurance How Health Insurance Works (973k PDF)
• Values, Goals, and Financial Decisions (252k PDF)
• Spending Plan/Budget: Your Financial Road Map (112k PDF)
• Interest: The Cost of Borrowing Money (126k PDF)

7. Uniform Format Using a
Lesson Plan Template
• Lesson description
• Introduction (Background
for the Instructor)
• Objectives
• New Jersey Personal
Financial Literacy Standard
• Time Required
• Materials
• Procedure (5 Learning
Activities)
• Closure
• Glossary
• Learning Extensions
• Assessment
• References and Resources
• Activity Handouts
• Back cover (Author,
Publication Date, Authorizing
Legislation)

8. Health Insurance Lesson
• How Health Insurance Works:
http://njaes.rutgers.edu/money/pdfs/DoE-Lesson-Plan-8-
Comparing-Insurance-How-Health-Insurance-Works.pdf
• 20 page lesson plan
• Downloadable free of charge
• Supports NJ Content Standard 9.1.12.G3:
Compare the cost of various types of insurance for the same product
or service, given different liability limits and risk factors

9. Lesson Background Content
• Basic health insurance terminology
• High deductible health care (HDHC) plans
• “Rule of Three” comparisons
• ACA “metal tiers”
• Trade-off of premium vs. out-of-pocket costs

10. Students Will be Able to…
• Explain common health insurance terms
• Complete math problems that apply health insurance
terms
• Compare costs and features of health insurance plans
• Explain what can happen when people lack health
insurance
• Explain the four ACA “metal tiers” of coverage
• Demonstrate understanding of insurance topics via
completion of learning activities

11. Introduction
What Do I Already Know About Health Insurance? activity
• What personal experiences have you had as a health insurance
consumer?
• What personal observations have you had about receiving health
care services?
• What have you heard or read about health insurance?
• What television shows, movies, or advertisements relate to the
topic of health insurance?
• What questions do you have about health insurance?

12. Activity #1
• Two short Humana whiteboard-style videos
• Ten debriefing questions
YouTube Video (2:13) How Does Health Insurance Work?:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1yzSOxxAjk
YouTube Video (2:38): Ho do Deductibles and Copays
Work?: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kT3H9pBP8fg

13. Activity #2
Health insurance math activity
Let's say your health insurance plan has the following features:
• Annual Deductible: $500
• Coinsurance: 80/20 (you pay the 20%; insurance pays 80%)
• Out-of-Pocket Maximum: $5,000
Now, let's say that you go to the hospital and incur $7,500 worth of
medical expenses. How much do you have to pay out of pocket?
What would be your out-of-pocket cost for $20,000 of annual medical
expenses?
What would be your out-of-pocket cost for $40,000 of annual medical
expenses?

14. Activity #3
• Bronze, Silver, Gold, or Platinum: How to Choose the Right
Level of Coverage (Consumers Union):
http://consumersunion.org/research/bronze-silver-gold-or-platinum-how-to-
choose-the-right-level-of-coverage-in-covered-california/
• Health Insurance Cost Comparison Worksheet activity
handout
• Ten debriefing questions
• One math application question
– Anticipated annual expenses: Bronze plan vs. Gold plan

15. Activity #4
Word Search Puzzle: 12 Key Health Insurance Terms

16. Activity #5

17. Learning Extensions
• Additional videos and web quests
• Guest speakers (e.g., insurance agent, ACA navigator)
• Kaiser Foundation insurance quiz:
http://kff.org/quiz/health-insurance-quiz/
• Learning activities from five other curricula
• “Is it Fair?” debate about ACA health insurance mandate

18. Glossary
• Exclusions
• Insurance Agent
• Insured
• Insurer
• Metal Tiers
• Policyholder
• Policy Limit
• Preventative Care
• Primary Care Physician
• Risk
• Specialist
…. PLUS the 12 words in
the Activity #4 word search

19. Assessment
• Five multiple choice questions
– Example:
The term used to describe the amount that a policyholder must pay before a
health insurance policy pays any benefits is
a. Copayment
b. Coinsurance
c. Deductible
d. Out-of-Pocket Maximum
• Five true-false questions
– Example:
Bronze plans in the health insurance Marketplace have the lowest premium cost
and highest out-of-pocket cost.

20. Open Invitation:
Please Use the Curriculum
• Use it to train high school personal finance teachers
• Adapt it for college students and adult audiences
• Use all of it or pieces of it
• Expand it with additional materials
• Stay in touch: boneill@njaes.rutgers.edu