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My philosphy is that life is supposed to be enjoyable.
Good luck with that philosophy and I hope it works out that way for you. Ever since that regretable incident in the Garden of Eden it's been a bit toilsome for most of the rest of us.
Its a pretty simple plan, its a HSA compatible high deductible plan with a deductible of $3,000. Maximum out-of-pocket (in-network) is the same as the deductible, there are no yearly or lifetime maximums (those don't exist anymore, btw). Its a PPO, there are no co-pays, and everything is paid 100% after the deductible.
If you got the same plan today it would cover preventive care regardless of whether you've reached your deductible and it would cost you around $15/month more.
Anyhow, its not a low-end health care policy, HSA policies are just cheaper but they require the users to save. Health insurance companies also use them to screen you, essentially in the private insurance market. That is, it helps the insurance companies solve the asymmetric situation they face when insuring someone. Someone picking a HSA policies is likely to be healthier...
Sounds good, but I still have suspicions that it is a better choice for the young and healthy and not as good for older folks or anyone with chronic conditions. I don't have a problem with the savings aspect (already utilize a FSA for health care). Or with higher deductibles. But, I know that there is no free lunch.
I suspect that one of the ways they keep premiums low is that they are catering to a younger healthier customer, hence lower payouts. And that might change drastically if everyone started using them.
I'd like to hear from a couple in their early fifties with a couple teens and a few hospital stays in the recent past and how the pricing structure worked out for them.
Just to note, this is a private plan, its not through an employer. The fact that you pay around the same as me says a lot about the state of the health care system. The employer model doesn't work...
No, it says a lot about your health and willingness to take risk.
The employer model is simply a form of compensation. They offer to contribute X dollars as a form of compensation. Employer group plans are no different from private group plans, if all things are equal. The biggest difference is that they cannot simply cherry pick who gets in and thus keep the premiums lower. Many offer a cafeteria style plan wherein you can pay more or less and have differing levels of coverage. Some folks are uncomfortable not knowing what they could end up paying in an unexpected crisis. Hence they would rather pay a higher premium. Others are willing to take on more risk and pay less on a monthly basis.
If an employer offered a HSA with a high deductible plan it would be no different from a private plan whose members were from all age groups.
for us it was a no brainer , worst case scenerio in the hsa was still better. the high deductable and the insurance premuim still were cheaper even if the deductable was hit by both of us. the no co-pays after hitting the deductable was a sweetener that added even more value.
now throw in paying for eye glasses, dental and every other related expense that isnt covered under your full medical insurance plan with pre-tax dollars and its a whopper of a savings.
At this point I could accomplish the same thing by moving from the enhanced POS option to the standard POS option ($108 tax free per month for family) and continuing to utilize a health FSA. I almost did that for 2011, but had second thoughts due to a few events that occurred over the past 4 years.
But, if I ever lose my employer sponsored group coverage, I will definitely be pricing such options.
the fsa is very limited in amount i found. im glad i dont have that anymore. with a 1500.00 max at our company it wasnt much for a family. one dentist trip did that in every year or glasses.
on your own the hsa can be quite pricey too. when i lost my job last year the insurance part without any company subsidy went from 280.00 a month to 680.00 on cobra. regular insurance was 725.00 a month through my wifes work so we went with that for a year but at our age full insurance on our own was over 10k..
my new job has an hsa option so im back to that again.
Yeah, the FSA used to be up to $5K. The gov lowered it. We have a family dental plan and the wife and son are on a vision plan through her work. So, we don't max out the FSA.
But, the numbers you are quoting sound more like my expectations for middle aged family coverage. Now imagine what it will be at age 65 when you go looking for coverage with your voucher in hand.
My philosphy is that life is supposed to be enjoyable.
I said life was not meant to be easy and when I use that I am referring to one or more person who has to work hard for low pay so that somebody else can have an easy and enjoyable life. That message is for the second group of people who usually want the niceties but don't want to pay for it.
I said life was not meant to be easy and when I use that I am referring to one or more person who has to work hard for low pay so that somebody else can have an easy and enjoyable life.
You know there might be a third group who work hard for higher pay.
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