Health Saving Accounts

We used one on a high deductible plan, we even got visa debit cards that we could use for payments. I'll see how the taxes go next week but it one way it is similar to an IRA. If you don't use it for medical then it can be an IRA down the road. With that said, if you put money in an HSA and withdraw money for something other than medical you will get taxed like you are doing an early withdrawal on a 401k or IRA. The nice thing is you don't lose it at the end of the year like you would on a Flexible Spending Account that you can get through a regular employer so its a great long term savings plan that you can use for medical as needed. Hope that helps.

Hi F., My husband is an agent with Farmers Insurance and could look at it for you. I don't know much about it other than he has saved other folks money and he's good about doing the analysis for you and then recommending whats best economically for you guys. Anyhow, you can email me if you want to chat with him and I'll give you all his contact info.
Thanks!

Hi F., we have a HSA account through our credit union, Corporate America Family Credit Union. There are no fees and you earn a good interest rate. From the research I did, Banks tend to charge high fees. But you have to be linked to a High Deductable insurance plan. We use Humana. There are a lot of tax advantages to using a HSA, and it is good to know you have savings for medical expenses.

F.:

HSA's are a good thing to have, however I recommend that my customers, yes I am an agent, have other supplemental products in place to pay for out-of-pocket expenses.

Putting money into the HSA for tax purposes is great, but nothing says that you need to use those funds. Leave the money in the HSA, let it invest in supplement products like Accident Plans or Medical or Hospital Indemnity products,these offer reimbursment for your expenses. In otherwords, you will "feel the love" of the plan quicker.

There are a lot of ways to defray the out-of-pocket costs, so you don't feel that your insurance company is taking so much of your income.

I would love to answer any questions that you have if you would like. I am on the customer side and like to see that people are happy with their plans.
If you wouls like to talk, my number is ###-###-####. S. H.

HSA's are certainly something to look into especially if you don't have ongoing medical issues. You can invest a certain amount of money per year and use the money for certain purposes. You can google how HSA's work and what is covered.
They work wonderfully for relatively healthy individuals who might only go to the doctor once or twice a year. You pay those things out of pocket but they go toward your deductible. If you need something more serious, you have the benefit of the insurance policy and using your funds. There are tax advantages as well.
I'm in CA so the peramiters may be different, but it is certainly something to check out.

If you have a tax advisor, make sure they are educated and read all the fine print. Google HSA's for your state. I know many people that this has worked really well for.
Best wishes!

We are self-insured as well and have an HSA. I love the convenience of it...it is simply a debit card. We have a high deductible which lowers or premiums, thank God. We put a large lump sum in at the beginning of the year and use the card to pay for medical bills and prescriptions until the deductible is met (usually June with our family).

Yes, love, love, love them. In fact, I gave birth a few months ago with a high deductible, HSA account. In the long run, it's cheaper to just pay for things for yourself, also, many plans associated with HSA include everything in year max, unlike low deductible plans that exclude co-pays.

When I pull up our health insurance information online, I can access the HSA and have them send checks wherever. It works just like a checking account.

I think it's the way forward.

We are in the same boat, have gone back and forth and quoted group insurance for our small office, regular individual insurance, and high deductible HSA accounts for group or individual. We are not sick a lot so we have gone the HSA route. Our max family deductible is a little over $5000, but once we hit that the coverage is 100%. I do pick the 100% coverage after the deductible's paid, so that we have some idea of our max out of pocket cost. Note, that you get the same write-offs the insurance company would get if you had 'regular' insurance. IE, at the pediatrician we don't pay full price, we wait for the EOB to clear and the write-offs bring the bill down. Be careful with that, though, as the write-offs have decreased dramatically with our pediatrician in the past year to the point that I'm considering another pediatrician's office because the cost has gone up. Additionally you get a great tax benefit as the contributions into your HSA account are pre-tax. Finally, you can use that account to pay for more than just doctor and dental...you need Tylenol, use your HSA account. When you get the receipt from WalMart, Target or Walgreens they usually line those things that qualify with a special character. I think the biggest disadvantage (with mine at least) is that we have to pay full cost for prescriptions. Sometimes if you let the pharmacist know you are self-paying they make sure you get the best cost.

F., i had a hsa through my insurance at work (we could "ONLY" have it in conjunction with their insurance program) and it was great. i could use it on so many things, like neosporin/bandaids, as well as copays and prescriptions. i would do some research online however. i don't know the rules for getting them instead of insurance - i believe the new health plan of obama's has lowered the amount you can contribute to the card to 2500 instead of the previous cap of 5000. but this might be something completely different than what you're talking about. hope it helps.