HSA Replacing Health Insurance

Sorry if I came across harsh. Not my intention.

Dave Ramsey is not qualified or licensed to give health insurance advice. You can not purchase an HSA by itself. It has to be attached to a health insurance policy.

The proper advice is get a plan with a high deductible, and no copays. Get an HSA to go along with it and use your HSA money to cover dr visits, eyeglasses, prescriptions, etc.

The HSA is along with insurance. Don't be misled.

You drop your health insurance and get really sick or have an accident what will you do? Are you prepared for a bill in the thousands of dollars?

We don't have HSA because we are numbers people, good at savings and investments and disciplined with it. However, I would never go without insurance. Our decuctible is 10,000 BEFORE any insurance kicks in but if one of us were to get very sick or have an accident, it would not be financial ruin for our family since we are covered with a good insurance policy.

Yes, 10,000 deductible is huge and I don't like paying $650 a month either but it is not worth the risk of no insurance.

Make sure you get ALL the facts from an insurance professional (not a financial advisor who makes money selling his ideas)

Well, Dave Ramsey is wrong. Darn.

HSA or a Health Savings Account is done through employers and is in TANDEM with a health insurance program.

You will get a "credit card" through the program. Money is withdrawn from your paycheck (pre-tax dollars) and placed into the account. You then use that money via the credit card for OTC medicines, office co-pays, etc.

Unlike an FSA (Flexible Spending account) you do NOT turn in receipts for reimbursement by a specific date. The HSA can be used in the future for long term disability payments as well - however - YOU MUST CHECK WITH THE HSA ADMINISTRATOR TO VERIFY THAT. Some programs are different.

An HSA or health savings account is only allowed on high deductible insurance. I have one through my work.

You need to find an insurance broker. They will be able to match you with the best plan and also the HSA component. The thing is it is the high deductible insurance that saves you on the premiums the HSA allows you pre tax contributions.

Psst, Cheryl you can get them privately as well. Had I not got insurance through school my broker was going to set it all up. Flex accounts are the ones tied to employment.

Well, Dave Ramsay is right! Yay!

We switched to an HSA a few years ago and LOVE it.
After the $ builds up, there are investment opportunities.

And it's NOT ONLY employer based. Ours is though.

If you are buying a high deductible insurance, they probably offer it as an option. Look at eHealthInsurance.com or your credit union, as someone else mentioned.
OR your employer might offer an HSA option as well.

HSA funds roll from year to year (yay!) while Flex accounts MUST be used by years end (boo!)

So far - it seems that everyone has said what I would say.

it's an employer based program. Check with your employer. I'd like to add that the "High deductible" is different with each program. Some are $5K for the family and some are higher - $7,500 up to $10,000. this means that you pay for everything up to that deductible. Then when you reach that amount - insurance covers either all of it or whatever set amount you have.

Actually, you can get an HSA without health insurance. My credit union offers them. But I wouldn't skip health insurance. Like others have said, an HSA isn't going to do much to help the cost of a major illness or emergency.

I recently had to switch to an individual plan as my husband's new company doesn't offer that benefit yet. The first week we had it, all three kids had to go to the doctor and get antibiotics and one needed an x-ray and bloodwork. I don't even want to think about how much that would have been without insurance.

I'll bet Dave Ramsey has health insurance.

marcushood.com. Marcus helped us with ours years ago, and we are very happy. We have a $10K deductible, but you can go lower. For our family of four, we pay just under $300/month in premiums, and it covers up to $300/year in well care (well child, well woman, etc).

Good luck!

We have an HSA with Humana... It's GREAT, ONLY IF you don't have medical issues.. If you have medical problems, I don't recommend it!
We went from paying 750 for the 3 of us, to 210 for the 3 of us per month.... HUGE MONTHLY savings!!!!! BUTTTTTTTTTTTT, I started having unknown medical issues and going to a bunch of specialist, and that's where it gets expensive.. We have a 10k deductible (for the 3 of us as a group to meet, not individually)...
Example:
-When I go to the regular doctor, it's 65 per visit (the average person pays about 20 for their copay)
-When my son goes, it's 45....
It's a negotiated rate between the doctor and the insurance company......

BUT when I go for MRI's it gets expensive! The NEGOTIATED rate for mri's is about 650 out of pocket ( I pay them off monthly)
When I go to a specialist, it all depends..... I see a neurologist, it's about 150 after the negotiated rate... I never usually have to pay at the time of my doctor visit.... The doctor bills my insurance company, they agree on a negotiated rate, I receive the "explanation of benefits" in the mail, then the actual bill from the doctor's office.... If the bills are expensive, I ask for monthly payment plans with everyone......

So if you DON'T have health issues, I recommend it!!!! If you DO have health issues, I DON'T recommend it.....

Let me know if you have any other questions!

PS I do know what I'm talking about because my husband managed a health/life insurance company for almost 10 years... When he got out of the business (and the company stopped paying for our insurance, is when we got onto the HSA plan)...

Kids well visits are free, and so is either a yearly pap or mammogram for women.