HSA Accounts?

[aprilgail2]

I can't imagine anyone not paying ANYTHING for their insurance. Is there anyone "out there" who doesn't pay a premium?

(I mean those insured through their work. Obviously self-insured people pay everything, and uninsured have nothing to pay for...for whatever reason. I don't want to derail the thread to talk about why people are uninsured.)

...

I don't pay a penny for insurance- my employer covers it all- health, dental, optical, perscription, life. I do have a flex spending account to cover deductibles, over the counter stuff and also my daughters braces since the dental only covers $2,000 of the cost. Also when we retire (can retire at 50) they pick up the cost of health insurance (but not eye or dental) until you are old enough for medicare, and at that point they give you a certain amount of money to pay for a supplemental policy to go with medicare.

 

[Mickeyluver37]

Thanks so much to everyone for your responses - that's what I wanted to hear!



To elaborate... I actually do payroll for my company. I called our payroll processor (ADP) today to finalize all the new codes necessary to begin, and she challenged my request to set up a deduction code for the premium. Both she (an "HSA Specialist") and another support rep both said they had never heard of anyone paying a premium with an HSA... they had only ever assisted in setting up the contribution codes. She made me doubt myself - but I was "sure" that other companies with HDHP's and HSA's would share the premiums with their employees.

Also - FWIW - I've been with the company since its inception in 1989, and this is the first year we've ever imposed any shared premiums on our employees. Also, I've run a lot of numbers in comparison of the plans, and the HSA's often "do" work out better for the employee. It just takes a little bit more "work" on the employee's part which - IMHO - isn't a "bad thing."

But YMMV.....

Thanks again, everyone!

I think that is what they'd like us to think. We are told all the time that it makes us make better choices. What it really means is that your out of pocket costs are so astronomical that you have NO choices sometimes.

I'm not oblivious to insurance costs. I just had much better coverage with my old employer (now I'm SAHM), so I'm really disappointed at how much DH's company covers. I compare with people all the time, and our OOP costs are much larger than everyone I know, and that's AFTER paying what I consider to be large premiums. And this is a large, nationwide company, not a small business.

BTW, if you are just switching over to this for 2010, I'm sure you'll be hearing all kinds of complaints from employees soon! I've never heard of anyone that prefers this type of insurance, except HR of course.

 

[squirrlygirl]

Sorry for lack of punctuation; just had shoulder surgery.

we will come out way ahead with the high deductible plan and hsa. our hmo had imposed such high copays, restictions on coverage, and a copay for a kleenex if you so much as sneeze that we paid out thousands last year. on our new plan insurance covers 100 percent once we hit the deductible, and that deductible is half our out of pocket costs from the prior year.

as a example my hand surgeon appt-i paid 40 for the visit, 20 for xrays, and 20 for cast. hmo paid around 6 dollars. with the new plan i'd pay 6 dollars more and it will all be applied towards my deductible.

 

[Mickeyluver37]

Sorry for lack of punctuation; just had shoulder surgery.

we will come out way ahead with the high deductible plan and hsa. our hmo had imposed such high copays, restictions on coverage, and a copay for a kleenex if you so much as sneeze that we paid out thousands last year. on our new plan insurance covers 100 percent once we hit the deductible, and that deductible is half our out of pocket costs from the prior year.

as a example my hand surgeon appt-i paid 40 for the visit, 20 for xrays, and 20 for cast. hmo paid around 6 dollars. with the new plan i'd pay 6 dollars more and it will all be applied towards my deductible.

We went from a great PPO with $15 copays to an HSA PPO, where we still pay 10-20% after our deductible is met. Our OOP costs used to be insignificant, and now they are in the $1,000's. And our prescription costs, which used to have a fixed dollar amount co-pay after meeting the deductible, are now a percentage, so we're paying MUCH more since my dd has monthly allergy and asthma meds.

Oh, and the first year we switched over? I had a baby in January. Well, the OB's don't bill you anything even though you've been seeing them for 9 months...they bill it ALL at delivery. We met our deductible right away between them and the anethesiologist and the hospital bill!

I think that all of these out of pocket costs wouldn't be so bad if DH's employer paid much more for the premiums. They alone are double what we used to pay for 100% better coverage.

 

[golfgal]

High deductible plans were designed to work in conjunction with a HSA but many employers don't fund an HSA for people. They were designed to have a place to stockpile money (HSA) for when major medical cost occur. HD health plans are not usually good options for families with small kids or people with ongoing medical costs--they end up costing too much out of pocket. What companies SHOULD do is offer 2 plans (or more) and let people decide. In a group plan situation (in our state anyway) all you need is 5 employees to participate in a plan and you can offer 2 plans. You could offer a HD plan as the base plan, pay your percentage of premium based on that plan and if an employee wants the other plan they get the same amount as they would if they had taken the HD plan and have to pay the extra premium themselves. It is a EASY solution to medical needs for people.

We rarely go to the dr and our preventative care is covered at 100% with our HD plan (we just switched over to this plan in Sept). Since we rarely go to the dr it cost less OOP. Now, if we have to max out our deductible it will cost more but the we haven't had medical bills like that for years.

 

[MinnieMe87]

If I'm understanding your question correctly (I'll be honest with you - the entire Insurance thing baffles me, and I don't know why).....

I do not pay anything for insurance (BCBS/IL). My company pays for myself, and family. I have nothing coming out of my checks.

In addition to this, my company puts $200 per month, into an HSA for each employee, as well.

It's the same way at my job too! My health savings account also rolls over each year, so I can build up as much money as I want to in it and never lose anything from the account.