Health insurance & medical costs

US health insurance is genuinely one of the most confusing systems there is — confusion is the default, not a personal failing. This lesson builds the core mental model: you and the insurer split costs in stages. It defines premium, deductible, copay, coinsurance, and the out-of-pocket maximum in plain English, then traces a single $3,000 medical bill through every stage so the whole machine clicks into place.

8 min read

Open enrollment hands you a wall of plan options with names like Silver PPO and Bronze HMO, and almost no plain-English explanation. This lesson decodes the metal tiers, the HMO/PPO/EPO plan types, what in-network versus out-of-network really means for a bill, and the core premium-vs-deductible tradeoff. It closes with how to read a Summary of Benefits — framing the tradeoffs honestly, never telling anyone which plan to pick.

8 min read

Two accounts — the HSA and the FSA — let people set aside money for medical costs while lowering their tax bill. They sound alike and get confused constantly, but they work very differently: one is yours forever with a rare triple tax advantage, the other is use-it-or-lose-it and tied to an employer. This lesson explains how each works, what's eligible, who qualifies, and walks a worked example of the actual tax savings.

7 min read

A medical bill arrives, then a confusing second document, and it's never clear which one to pay or whether the number is even right. This lesson separates the EOB (explanation of benefits) from the actual bill, explains why they arrive separately, how to check a bill for errors, what in-network billing should look like, and the paths that exist when a bill seems wrong — financial assistance, charity care, and payment plans. It's how-it-works framing, never individualized advice.

7 min read