HSA health care plans

[Shelly F - Ohio]

I have to select a new health care plan and one of the options is a HSA plan. Has anyone used this type of plan and how did you like or dislike it?

 

[clarabelle]

is it a flexible spending account?
or a Health Savings Account?

We have a Savings account in combination with a high deductible insurance.
You don't have to use it or lose it -you keep the money you don't spend. I works well for people who don't go to the doctor a lot.
When we do go -we fill out a form and get a check.

It is very easy and we have had no problems getting the money
Some people have a debit card -but the type of account we put ours in (mutual fund) does not allow the debit card.

 

[hanutedmansionmomma]

I have a High Deductible plan ($5000/year family out of pocket, then covered) with an HSA Health Savings Account that my employer puts $100 month in and I put $100 month in.

I like the HSA. You can get reimbursed for receipts in a prior year, you can change the amount you put in more than once/year, and with mine they give you a debit card, so you can pay for all things medical (advil, contact solution, prescriptions, dr visits) with this card, rather than saving receipts and submitting. I can go online and request a reimbursement that transfers into my checking account, so not a big deal for me.

AND if someday I don't have to spend the $ in the account on medical things and save some up, the $ is mine to invest. I'm a long way from that though...

Love HSA, hate High Deductible. I always freak out a little when someone gets sick. I had a cough a couple months ago that cost me $500 out of pocket (drs, meds). You have to always be ready to pay that first $5000 out of pocket. Still working to get enough in my HSA to pay myself back. Not sure if yours goes hand in hand too?

 

[Irin997]

A couple of years ago my old employer changed his plan offerings and I had to choose a high deductible/HSA plan. For my DD8 and I, the OOP deductible (which you could use from an HSA account if fully funded) was either $2500 or $5000, I don't remember. It is different for a family or single person.

Anyway, I had literally just changed over and my HSA account wasn't fully funded yet. Well, I wound up smashing my thumb in a car door and breaking it. While the hospital could only charge the "allowable amount" to the insurance company, I was still responsible for paying that exact amount because my deductible had to be met. Since I didn't already have that money in my HSA, I had to pay it directly OOP. It wound up being somewhere in the neighborhood of $1300....and that was AFTER the "allowable amount" was charged.

Needless to say I really didn't have that money at the time which is one reason I'm completely soured on the idea of high deductible/HSA plans.

In my current job, I do fund an HSA account for reimbursements of OOP eligible medical expenses and my deduction is $40 a pay period. This has been totally worth it. But I only pay my $15 co-pay to doctors and not a penny more and that's the way I like it.

It's a personal decision that only you can make about your needs. That particular plan is not for me....however, a PP stated that it really worked out well for them. Only you will know. HTH!!

 

[cjnix29]

I agree with the PP. We have one. It is fine if you don't incur high medical costs at the beginning of the year. We also have a high deductible plan with an HSA. We contribute per pay period, as does my DH's employer. For us, I get a drug infusion every six weeks that costs $17K each time. So we are at our OOP max the first time the needle goes in my arm. So then we are at the mercy of the hospital to allow us to make payments. Then I just pay it monthly out of the account. Which I guess is better than paying it out of my account!

Granted, you can't plan for all emergencies, but if you don't have any major medical that comes at the beginning of the year, it's Ok.

 

[mrsklamc]

AND if someday I don't have to spend the $ in the account on medical things and save some up, the $ is mine to invest. I'm a long way from that though...

The money goes into the account pre-tax so if you ever DO use it for non-medical purposes you would need to pay taxes on it first.

I like that the HSA money doesn't go away at the end of the year like FSA. I look at it like this: If I pay a health insurance premium, I KNOW that money is gone. If it goes into an HSA I might have to spend it, but I might not.

Another thing to kow is that even though you will pay more out of pocket for things like dr's visits, you will pay the same lowered rate that your health insurance provider has negotiated for themselves.

The big thing here is to KNOW what your maximum out of pocket expense is and whether or not you can cover it. Personally I LOVE not throwing all that money down the drain.

 

[3boymthr]

A couple of years ago my old employer changed his plan offerings and I had to choose a high deductible/HSA plan. For my DD8 and I, the OOP deductible (which you could use from an HSA account if fully funded) was either $2500 or $5000, I don't remember. It is different for a family or single person.

Anyway, I had literally just changed over and my HSA account wasn't fully funded yet. Well, I wound up smashing my thumb in a car door and breaking it. While the hospital could only charge the "allowable amount" to the insurance company, I was still responsible for paying that exact amount because my deductible had to be met. Since I didn't already have that money in my HSA, I had to pay it directly OOP. It wound up being somewhere in the neighborhood of $1300....and that was AFTER the "allowable amount" was charged.
Needless to say I really didn't have that money at the time which is one reason I'm completely soured on the idea of high deductible/HSA plans.

In my current job, I do fund an HSA account for reimbursements of OOP eligible medical expenses and my deduction is $40 a pay period. This has been totally worth it. But I only pay my $15 co-pay to doctors and not a penny more and that's the way I like it.

It's a personal decision that only you can make about your needs. That particular plan is not for me....however, a PP stated that it really worked out well for them. Only you will know. HTH!!

I think this depends upon the way your employer sets up the account. I've gone past the amount I've funded no problem though only by a couple hundred dollars not a thousand.

 

[Irin997]

I think this depends upon the way your employer sets up the account. I've gone past the amount I've funded no problem though only by a couple hundred dollars not a thousand.

The problem was the plan had JUST changed over and it was about 3 weeks into the new plan that I broke my thumb. There was nothing in the HSA account yet.

 

[bear_mom]

We have a high deductible, HSA plan and so far have had less problems with it than with our previous PPO plans. I haven't had to spend hours on the phone with them getting things paid for that they should have been.

Dh did have a pretty bad bike accident in Sept that included a trip to the ER, a CT scan, an X ray, a consult with a neurologist (he fractured a cerebral vetebrae), a trip to our family doctor, a trip to a orthopedist (he broke the end of his clavical) and now physical therapy. Needless to say we met our deductible and the insurance part kicked in and picked up the tab on most of the bills. Unfortuately the trip to the orthopod and PT will be on this year's dedcutible.

We still have some money left in the HSA account after all last year's medical bills.

Dh's company puts $100/month into the account, but they do this at the beginning of the year so you have some money in the account in case of an emergency before you have a chance to put some funds into the account.

I like having the debit card to pay for all the medical things throughout the year. I use it for over the counter meds, perscriptions and the obvious doctors visits.

Emily

 

[JamesMom]

My family loves our plan.

DH employer provides fancy no deductible plan for $500 a month.
And a HSA Account for $200 a month - need $3,000 deductible for family.

Hmmm. $2,400 premiums and potential pay up to $3,000?
OR $6,000 in premiums and still have the 20% copay?

The math told us to go with HSA.

We fund it $150 a month and last year (knock on wood) only spent around $1200 out of pocket, but we have an emergency fund available to cover the difference, if needed. We use the debit card to pay as we go.

We pay the same price for services as the fancy plan and our kids wellness checks are covered 100% - no copay.

 

[PinkRhombus]

Another small benefit (that adds up) is that you can also claim your purchases of over the counter medications, like Tylenol, Advil, cold medicines, band-aids, etc.

We don't have that plan but at Kroger it always prints out something at the bottom of the receipt noting how much qualifies.

Vitamins?

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

WOW thanks for all the responses so quickly.
It does seem scary to me because it's one of those it sounds too good to be true since we are only use to paying the monthly premiums option.

It does seem like a no brainer. But its the fear of trying something new.

I think given all the info I have read this will be the route we will go.

Anyone know of a good web sit that has info regarding the tax info related to this plan?

 

[blanq]

I have to select a new health care plan and one of the options is a HSA plan. Has anyone used this type of plan and how did you like or dislike it?

An HSA is NOT a health care plan. It is a way to pay for your out-of-pocket medical expenses. I would still recommend a health care plan, perhaps with a high deductible, if you go with an HSA. With your health care plan you will at least get the negotiated rates your plan has with providers, reducing the cost of your care.

My family has a HD health plan with an HSA and we are happy with it. Just keep in mind what your deductible is, and try to fund your HSA to cover it.

 

[mrsklamc]

An HSA is NOT a health care plan. It is a way to pay for your out-of-pocket medical expenses. I would still recommend a health care plan, perhaps with a high deductible, if you go with an HSA. With your health care plan you will at least get the negotiated rates your plan has with providers, reducing the cost of your care.

My family has a HD health plan with an HSA and we are happy with it. Just keep in mind what your deductible is, and try to fund your HSA to cover it.

By law, HSAs can only be offered with High Deductible Health Plans.

 

[nunzia]

We have what is defined as an HSA health care plan for my DH that we pay for since his employers do not pay health insurance. There are specific plans that are categorized as these and yes, they have high deductibles but they also have low premiums, which is another requirement. Ours is through Blue Cross/Blue Shield. We do not actually have an HSA saving account set up..I'm a little fuzzy on how to do this..but keep thinking about figuring it out.

 

[Heidijs]

My employer switched to high deductible plans but they fund my family deductible of $2900 and put it in a health savings account (VEBA) which I never lose and can use it on any medical expense weather it's medical, dental, vision band aides...anything...it gets funded January 1st of every year so we don't have to worry about building it up every month, it gets fully funded. My DD and I rarely use it so we have over $8000 in there since our employer started this a couple years ago...if anything, we use it for her routine dental exams so I don't have to pay dental on her for now...otherwise we get 100% coverage on wellness exams once a year and then we rarely go for anything else.

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

After reading up on HSA plans we have decided to chose that as our health plan option. It makes the most sense to us and is very cost effective. Love the tax benefits too. Found a calculator tool which shows the comparison of the tradition plan verses the HSA side by side and is shows we would save $139 a month with the HSA plan.

 

[deerhart]

my dh's employer funds our HSA ($1100.00 per year). We do not have an option to add into it (that I have seen) so we dump all the extra into our FSA account.

We do have a debit card for the accounts (always deducts from FSA first then HSA once we cap). We just rolled over about half our HSA from last year to this year (I really want lasic but still waffling).

 

[Mrs. Bradbury]

My employer offered seed money for an HSA as a carrot to encourage people to sign up for the high deductible health insurance plan. My problem with it was, if you did meet your deductible and the insurance kicked in, it wasn't the same coverage as our current PPO - not by a long shot. If it has been exactly the same I would seriously have considered it, but having been blindsided by serious medical situations in the past, there's no way I will willingly accept less coverage. My advice is to go over both policies with a fine tooth comb before you make your decision.

 

[kmacht]

Just wanted to make a quick note about HSA and HDHP insurance plans. The biggest drawback most people see is in those first few months before they have enough money put into the account to cover costs. This was my concern as well. What I found out though was that if you end up having to pay more in medical expenses than you currently have in your account you are allowed to write yourself a check or checks to pay yourself back out of the HSA account once the money becomes available. So if you have a $1000 medical bill in January but only have $100 a month put into your account you can either write yourself a check for $100 a month or for the full $1000 at the end of the year. You must have the recipts showing actual expenses to do this otherwise you will start getting into trouble come tax time. If you don't have all the money at the time of the expense, most doctors and hospitals will work out a payment plan with you. You can have them set it up for the $100 a month and do the same thing.

My suggestion is to put enough money in there the first year to cover all of your deductable and out of pocket maximum. You probably won't use it all but whatever is left over you can deduct from what you have to put in the next year.

Keith