Anybody ever sign up for an insurance plan with a Health Savings Account?

Queasy

Moderator<br>Console Gaming
Aug 24, 2001
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My employer is offering these this year and the family version is a $2500 in-network deductible. The juicy part is that my employer automatically contributes $1350 to the Health Savings Account! We only have to pick up the difference plus the co-pays if we go over the deductible (20% for the most part).

Just wondering if anyone else has used these and what their experiences were with them before I make the decision to go with this or the HMO.
 

Accipiter22

Banned
Feb 11, 2005
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being a single male who's had insurance for maybe 8 years of his 24 on this Earth, I have no clue what that is, or the concept behind it.....is it for poor people too?
 

Fritzo

Lifer
Jan 3, 2001
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Yeah, we call it a cafateria plan here. It covers everything from asprin to surgery. It's basically a tax free savings account with no intrest. Not much of an insurance plan if you ask me.
 

Queasy

Moderator<br>Console Gaming
Aug 24, 2001
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Originally posted by: Accipiter22
being a single male who's had insurance for maybe 8 years of his 24 on this Earth, I have no clue what that is, or the concept behind it.....is it for poor people too?

No this can be for everybody, not just poor people. The idea is that instead of forking over a large amount every year to pay for insurance, you instead put pretax money into a Health Savings Account (HSA) and use that to pay for your medical costs. When you go for a doctor visit or go to the hospital, you pay with it out of the HSA. Once you reach the deductible limit, the insurance picks up the bulk of the cost. If you never reach the deductible limit, then the money that was in your account is saved for next year.

There are a couple of great benefits in the plan that I'm offered -
1) My employer automatically puts money into the HSA at the beginning of every year ($675 individual, $1350 family) leaving me to fund a little less than half the deductible.
2) Once the HSA reaches a balance of $2000, it can be used like a mutual fund to earn interest.

This plan is supposed to be great if you only go to the doctor once or twice a year because your money sits in your account gaining interest and rolling over year after year. My wife and I don't go to the doctor much but my son and daughter do so I'm not sure if this plan is right for us at the moment.

Still, the HMO plan is $250 a month for a family which comes out to $3000 per year.
 

Rill22

Senior member
Oct 5, 2005
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Originally posted by: Queasy
We only have to pick up the difference plus the co-pays if we go over the deductible (20% for the most part)
I was under the impression that with HSAs, once you met the deductible, everything else was covered? Or is it different depending on the plan?

 

IamElectro

Golden Member
Jul 15, 2003
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Originally posted by: Fritzo
Yeah, we call it a cafateria plan here. It covers everything from asprin to surgery. It's basically a tax free savings account with no intrest. Not much of an insurance plan if you ask me.

Except with most HSAs you lose any money that was not used within that fiscal year. Not much of a savings account when you do not get back any unused funds.

Your best bet is to look at how much money you have spent out of pocket on healthcare in the previous few years and see if it is worth it. I would also bet it is up to you to submit reciepts and paperwork to recieve and refunds from the account. So there is a time and effort fact here as well.

I personally do not think they are worth it unless you have someone in your family that is chronically ill or a walking accident.
 

Queasy

Moderator<br>Console Gaming
Aug 24, 2001
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Originally posted by: Rill22
Originally posted by: Queasy
We only have to pick up the difference plus the co-pays if we go over the deductible (20% for the most part)
I was under the impression that with HSAs, once you met the deductible, everything else was covered? Or is it different depending on the plan?

Everything else is covered but you still have to do a copay for things like doctor visits and prescriptions. Some items like immunizations are picked up fully and don't even count towards the deductible.
 

Queasy

Moderator<br>Console Gaming
Aug 24, 2001
31,796
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Originally posted by: IamElectro
Originally posted by: Fritzo
Yeah, we call it a cafateria plan here. It covers everything from asprin to surgery. It's basically a tax free savings account with no intrest. Not much of an insurance plan if you ask me.

Except with most HSAs you lose any money that was not used within that fiscal year. Not much of a savings account when you do not get back any unused funds.

Your best bet is to look at how much money you have spent out of pocket on healthcare in the previous few years and see if it is worth it. I would also bet it is up to you to submit reciepts and paperwork to recieve and refunds from the account. So there is a time and effort fact here as well.

I personally do not think they are worth it unless you have someone in your family that is chronically ill or a walking accident.

Actually, if you are chronically ill or a walking accident, a HMO is probably better.

As for submitting receipts and paperwork, we don't have to. We are given a debit card and a check book to pay for medical visits and prescriptions.
 

PingSpike

Lifer
Feb 25, 2004
21,751
595
126
I dunno. If you get cancer or something...20% of your healthcare costs will still probably ruin you. Do they pick up the whole tab after a certain amount?
 

GuitarDaddy

Lifer
Nov 9, 2004
11,465
1
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This is the new High deductible ins. + HSA plan that is being pushed by the current administration as the answer to escalating health care costs. The idea is to motivate the individual to take more ownership and responsibility for their own healthcare. Our company is offering it also and it's quite a bit cheaper than traditional coverage, but none of the people here seem interested.

Here are some of the differences as I understand them, from standard insurance.

1. The $2500 family deductible must be meet for the entire family before anyone gets benifets, and the deductible also applies to perscriptions(copays only kick in after the deductible is met)

2. The employer contribution to the HSA is a one time event to promote this new plan, in future years the employer will not make contributions to your account.

3. Unlike current flexible medical spending accounts (cafeteria plans), the remaining balance rolls forward each year. No "use it or lose it" like flex spending accounts.

4. If you choose an HSA account and a medical flex spending account, the flex account is limited to Vision and Dental spending, all medical bills must be paid from the HSA.


For someone like me this new type plan sucks. My family (crosses fingers) has very few medical problems and will normally never hit the $2500 deductible, but my wife and I do have several maintenance type perscriptions that we now pay a small copay for that wouldn't be covered under this plan until the deductible was met, which would be like Dec:(. So any savings I would get from the lower premiums would be wiped out by the increased out of pocket for perscriptions.

This plan may be attractive to younger single people with no routine perscriptions and very low medical costs, because it does provide coverage for major accident or illness that exceeds $2500 while providing a substancial break on the annual premiums