Health Insurance -- HSA The Way To Go?

[low03tb]

Hey guys, I'm looking to switch my health insurance as my boss isn't going to pay as much as he used to. Thanks for the newer insurance laws, when you have a child you have to insure that child with an adult also. I'm currently under United Health Care (a branch of it named Golden Rule) and have a $1,000 ded, prescription card, cheap co-pay, etc...but it's something like $440/m for the myself and my daughter. My boss is only going to reimburse me for $245/m from now on so I'm trying to find something that's cheaper that doesn't hurt the wallet because as of now I'm out $195/m since I'm still no the $440/m plan.

The person I go to for health insurance suggested an HSA (Health Savings Account). I don't know anything about these things, but I'm trying to read up a little on them today. My main reasons for health are obviously major medical bills, but the biggest things I'd like to address are well baby care (covered 100% on all or most plans I believe) and routine doctors visits for myself and my daughter (10 months old). If one of us was to come down with the flu, ear infection, etc...I'm trying to figure out what's the best way to not have to pay large bills, but still have a somewhat reasonable monthly payment. My guy said that any money in my HSA savings account is pre-tax dollars and I pay for the bills from that account. Wouldn't this be the way to go? Tax deductible and I'm saving roughly $185/month with the new HSA plan. So if we don't get sick for a few months or something, that's close to $375 saved that can go towards a possible routine dr's checkup if one of us was to get a little sick and need meds.

At this point, it looks like a good option to me, but I don't want to get hit with a massive bill if one of us needs to go to our doctors for an exam, check for being sick, etc. Honestly, the plan I was on didn't seem to cover all that much and it was one of the best they offered it seemed. I'd still pay $25 co-pay and going in for flu-check or strep-check, etc I'd still have a bill of around $50 every time. Didn't seem like the actual bill before insurance was that much more than that. Anyways, hoping that some of you know your health insurance stuff and can help me. Thanks! :-D

 

[Drive XR7]

I haven't had an option other than high deductible health plan (HDHP) for more than 6 years. I can't blame the new health insurance laws for this. I would love to have the old "classic" plans that aren't HDHPs.

You can save in an HSA tax-free and spend it for eligible expenses. I have a new card that I can use for those kinds of expenses.

Save up enough over the course of the year to cover your deductible and then some.

 

[98slowbra]

From what I am told the max you can put in a HSA is like $2500 a year and you pay no taxes on it, but it does come out of your check each time for this. Some give out credit cards and some do not, of what I remember if you do not have the money in your HSA account you still have to pay for it out of pocket then fill out the paper work and submit it to your insurance co. I know this year I had a Root canal and it was $2000, I had $1700 in my HSA, I had to pay that $2000 up front for the work to be done and now I am waiting for HSA to give me some of that money back. Also if you do not use what is in your HSA account you do not get it back.

 

[w00t]

HSA Plans are good for those who ALWAYS get sick or NEVER get sick. If you're planning on having any surgeries in the foreseeable future, I would choose a PPO Plan.

 

[low03tb]

From what I am told the max you can put in a HSA is like $2500 a year and you pay no taxes on it, but it does come out of your check each time for this. Some give out credit cards and some do not, of what I remember if you do not have the money in your HSA account you still have to pay for it out of pocket then fill out the paper work and submit it to your insurance co. I know this year I had a Root canal and it was $2000, I had $1700 in my HSA, I had to pay that $2000 up front for the work to be done and now I am waiting for HSA to give me some of that money back. Also if you do not use what is in your HSA account you do not get it back.

From what I've read it seems like you can put $6,500 or $6,600 per year into an HSA. I won't be doing that I don't think..especially not in this first year, but it's a good portion that would cover the deductible.

Also, the not being able to get your money back out of the account...never heard that. I thought I saw someone say that on a forum/blog, but another person said that the issue for a health reimbursement account, not an HSA. Not sure now though.

HSA Plans are good for those who ALWAYS get sick or NEVER get sick. If you're planning on having any surgeries in the foreseeable future, I would choose a PPO Plan.

I was planning on having a septoplasty/turbinate reduction (would like to have already had it done!), but the cost out of pocket was too much at the time. With my $1,000 deductible (then 80/20) on insurance it was still like $3,4xx that I would have to pay out of pocket I believe. I'll just have to do it later I guess.

 

[sleek98]

From what I am told the max you can put in a HSA is like $2500 a year and you pay no taxes on it, but it does come out of your check each time for this. Some give out credit cards and some do not, of what I remember if you do not have the money in your HSA account you still have to pay for it out of pocket then fill out the paper work and submit it to your insurance co. I know this year I had a Root canal and it was $2000, I had $1700 in my HSA, I had to pay that $2000 up front for the work to be done and now I am waiting for HSA to give me some of that money back. Also if you do not use what is in your HSA account you do not get it back.

That's an FSA, an FSA is a use it or lose it.

An HSA you can roll over the balance from year to year. HSA's are recommended for people that are really healthy or really sick.

Say your deductible is 3,000 a person, you pay for the first 3,000 of medical care (can be from the HSA account which is tax advantaged) each year then the plan picks up the rest.

A PPO you normally have a 500-1000 deductible then co-insurance (10-30%) up to a set out of pocket amount.

If you know your going to hit your max out of pocket each year and go over it is better to pay the lower premium and pay 100% of the first bills.

If you are super healthy and only go maybe 1 or 2 times a year the difference in premiums (if saved in the HSA, which rolls over from year to year) can actually save you money in the long run. You never lose the money in the HSA, however you have to use it for medical expenses or you get hit with a 10% penalty on your income tax return. A lot of healthy people max it out and plan on using the funds for their increased medical expenses in retirement. It can be used a another form of retirement savings since certain HSA accounts can even be invested.

 

[low03tb]

Thanks for the clarification. My brother is a CPA, Financial Advisor, etc so he was telling me that the HSA is a good option for me. I get sick maybe once or twice a year (knock on wood!). I like being able to invest and that's where he can help me. Probably won't put much into it at first as I'd like to recoup some costs and increase my account balance, but I'd like to begin putting more in there from each check next year.

My biggest thing is just making sure my daughter is covered since she'll have shots, dr's visits, etc..but that's all well-baby care and is covered 100%. Crazy thing is my fiance could easily get paid medical from the government for them, but I know that's wrong and I'd be the exact person I always talk about disliking. People that can afford it, but would rather leech the government and taxpayers for their benefits, while purchasing shit they don't need for themselves. Won't do it. Not like one person will make a change, but it's a start I guess.

 

[SirShaun]

I just recently went through this dilemma myself starting a new job last December. I have a 16 month old daughter and so far mostly all of her doctor visits have been free. She did get one shot which which wasn't covered it seems as I currently owe the doctors office $32. The girlfriend and I are young enough to be healthy and rarely go to the doctors office, so far this HSA thing has been working quite well.

HSA account rolls over every year and maximum contributions are dependent upon whether your on a single plan or family plan.
HSA accounts are tax free unless you withdraw the funds (kind of like a IRA/401k)
Once you have enough in your HSA account you can begin to invest it.

Most likely you have a chance once a year to change your health plan. It's best if you change according to your planned maintenance. If you know you have some big operations coming down the pipe it may be beneficial to switch to the traditional plan for that year, if nothing major in the forecast, keep your HSA growing. Play it year to year. You HSA account is a personal account so it will never disappear if for some reason you do need to rock traditional health care for a year.

 

[GodStang]

Had HSA and man did it blow. It was me my wife and two kids. Doctor visits went from $24 a visit to $300 a visit. Medicine from $4 a bottle to $200 a bottle. Now if you never go to the Doctor than it can be a great plan as most you can adjust every year how much they take out. So first year put most you can away then after that dropp down the amount you put away.

 

[94RedCobra]

Enroll in a health care exchange. The Affordable Care Act works. People need to stop bitching and actually understand how it works.

https://www.healthcare.gov

 

[BMR Tech]

Wow - you guys are talking about some really low deductibles in here, like it's 2007!

 

[sleek98]

Had HSA and man did it blow. It was me my wife and two kids. Doctor visits went from $24 a visit to $300 a visit. Medicine from $4 a bottle to $200 a bottle. Now if you never go to the Doctor than it can be a great plan as most you can adjust every year how much they take out. So first year put most you can away then after that dropp down the amount you put away.

You would still have to meet your deductible, so the first and or second doctor's visit would have been 300. But you should have a lot lower monthly premium to help off set the higher visit. I know if we went with an HSA the premium would have been around 125 a month instead of 260.

Wow - you guys are talking about some really low deductibles in here, like it's 2007!

The plan my wife/kid/I are on is $1 deductible if we go to her hospital/group of doctors, its 500 for in-network though if we choose to use our own.

Last year we had 400 in network with an out of pocket maximum of 2,800 for the family. Changes to the plan to make it acceptable under the ACA made them raise the out of pocket to 12,500 as well as a few other things so they were not hit with the "Cadillac" plan penalties though. Price also went from 200 a month to 260

 

[BMR Tech]

What company is it?

That sound like our older plan, through my wife....but the newer PPO we have is horrible, IMO.

Our cost is fairly low at about $247/month for the family (Wife/2 Kids / I) - but the deductibles are definitely not "low".

That said, if you are healthy - the plan is great. If not, bye bye cashflow!

 

[sleek98]

What company is it?

That sound like our older plan, through my wife....but the newer PPO we have is horrible, IMO.

Our cost is fairly low at about $247/month for the family (Wife/2 Kids / I) - but the deductibles are definitely not "low".

That said, if you are healthy - the plan is great. If not, bye bye cashflow!

Its administered through Blue Cross Blue Shield of Kansas City. I believe her hospital is "self-insured" due to some of the language in the plan documents, which might be why their out of pocket expenses were generally super low. Since I would guess that people who work for a hospital tend to not go to the doctor as much since the have a general understanding of when its really needed.

 

[BMR Tech]

Gotcha. Yeah, our plan is through my wife's employer HCA Inc. - the largest healthcare provider. It's set up through United Healthcare. Used to be Aetna HMO, which I miss. That was an awesome plan!

 

[sleek98]

HCA has quite a few of the hospitals around here. They were trying to buy the one my wife works for but the board members blocked it.

 

[BMR Tech]

Yeah, they own just about all the hospitals here in FL, it seems.

Of course - our benefits are much much better when we use their services/centers.

Our plans have gotten amazingly worse, over the past few years. That said, they (HCA) pay really well.

 

[trc46]

My PPO has a 2000$ deductible for covered areas and a 4000$ d deductible for non coverage areas so basically if some crazy place doesn't take my company my deductible. They cover 100% after my deductible is met. 20$ copay on medications as well. I chose the ppo over the hsa type plan just because it fit my needs better.