<< Back to all Blogs
Login or Create your own free blog
Layout:
Home > Now I know why...

Now I know why...

October 21st, 2008 at 04:47 pm

...Ned Flanders on the Simpsons considered insurance "a form of gambling"!

We just got info on our healthcare options at work. It ain't good--they're getting rid of the plan I'm currently on, and I can either get on another high-deductible plan with a Health Savings Account (HSA) instead of a Flex Spending Account (FSA), or I can go to a high-monthly-premium, low-deductible plan that still has an FSA attached.

Well, I hate flex spending--last year I had a bunch left over and ended up getting designer sunglasses; this year my doctor prescribed some lab tests right away, and I blew through my flex money in January and have been paying with post-tax dollars ever since. So you'd think the HSA would be the obvious choice. I can carry over what I don't use, it's tax-free--it's much better than FSA in a lot of ways.

BUT--I'd love to have tax-free savings for whatever comes up, and the max you can contribute is $3000--coincidentally your out-of-pocket maximum for the year. However, that maximum doesn't factor in teeth and eyes--and with the dental stuff I had done this year, I'd love to have enough HSA money to cover worst-case scenario PLUS dental worst-case PLUS vision worst-case. But I can't.

Oh well. If I went with the low-deductible plan and kept my FSA at its current, my paycheck's going down $80 either way. I guess HSA is better.

Posted in Uncategorized | 3 Comments »

3 Responses to “Now I know why...”

  1. kdmoffett25 Says:
    October 21st, 2008 at 05:00 pm 1224608428
    1224608428

    Don't you hate it when companies don't really give you a choice. My husband takes his through his work and it is so much better than what is offered here... for all plans a family costs over $300 every two weeks. I have a friend who got a raise, but with her now having to take our insurance, her check is $300 lower than before. Makes you almost not want to work.

  2. Jane Says:
    October 21st, 2008 at 07:05 pm 1224615935
    1224615935

    Just a note of encouragement - the HSAs do work over the long term - we are on year 5 of ours and have almost 10K saved. During the first couple of years I thought we would never get above the deductible, but it is a savings account and you would be surprised about how adding 3K each year helps.

    Plus, the gov't has consistently increased the amount you can put in and most of the HSAs have good investment options so you can usually get 3-5% once you have more than the minimum in there.

    I think the biggest secret is not use the HSA unless you really have to. Currently, you can reimburse your self any time for past expenses. So I when I had a root canal done this year I used the HSA to pay for the main procedure ($1K) but not the prescriptions ($100) or followups ($250). While it would be nice to have the $350, I'd rather let it sit there and appreciate. And if next spring I need some cash, I can legally take that amount out and use it for whatever needs paying.

    HSAs are not perfect by any means, but I do think they are much better than FSAs. And I think over time you may actually end up liking yours a lot.

  3. ceejay74 Says:
    October 21st, 2008 at 07:52 pm 1224618774
    1224618774

    Thanks, Jane, for the insider perspective. I'm glad to know it can work! I'm also going to see if getting onto my husband's health care would be a lot cheaper, but if it isn't, I will give the HSA a try.

Leave a Reply

(Note: If you were logged in, we could automatically fill in these fields for you.)
*
Will not be published.
   

* Please spell out the number 4.  [ Why? ]

vB Code: You can use these tags: [b] [i] [u] [url] [email]