Insurance Question

[kellyt]

I hope this section is ok for this -

Anyone have an "HSA" insurance plan?   "Health Savings Account".   I would love to hear about the plan and your experience with it.   Thanks!  In particular, I'm looking at the Aetna HSA and the Humana HSA - and possibly United HSA.  Keep in mind I have Medicare for the next 18 months that pretty much picks up everything, although I might have to pay 20% using an HSA.  Not sure yet, but my husband rarely if EVER goes to the doctor and we can save roughly $400/month on our monthly premium alone.

Thanks...

[Jie]

I am not sure what these "health Savings Accounts" do at Aetna and other insurance co. I do similar health savings account through my workplace each year. The money is good for only one year and will go if not used within one year. I do a rough estimate of the out of pocket money I need to pay, including over counter medicines and some supplies for my PD and decide how much to contribute each year. The benefit is to reduce tax since the money I contribute is pretax money.     

[kellyt]

This is how I understand it, but I could be wrong at this point - With the Aetna HSA (and others) you can place a maximum (for me anyway) of $3050 in a "health savings account" for "out of pocket" expenses, which go toward your $3000 deductible.  This account is also tax free and any money left in the account at the end of the year is yours tax free.  For me, I will probably use my $3050, but my husband more than likely will not use his (or very little of it anyway).  There is no copay and you are responsible for the entire office visit, lab work, etc., but, again, what you pay out of pocket goes toward that $3000 deductible.  Once you reach the deductible you are covered at 100% all around.  The most I will spend out of pocket is $3000.  I need to look into the pharmacy portion, however.

[cariad]

Wish I knew the answer, Kelly. I have had a savings account for childcare with a max of $5000, and it worked exactly as Jie described. We had to pay for the childcare savings account through a bimonthly payroll deduction, and then we also had to pay for all childcare expenses to the childcare provider (the preschool) and submit our payed bills for reimbursement. So really we had to be able to pay for the costs essentially twice before we got our pretax dollars back.

What you are describing sounds too good to be true, but I hope it is true!!! If you try it and it works, please let us know. We currently pay double that in premiums alone, and then have copays and coinsurance. If I could just pay $3000 and be done with it, I would jump at the chance. I'm sure you're already doing this, but I would read any policies extremely carefully and look for any tricky clauses like preexisting condition, any talk of 'maximums', needing to pass a health exam, or whatever.

I just did a little reading on United's Golden Rule, but I cannot say I really understand it even still. There was something worrying about "preventative care" which said you pay $35/visit for these appointments. Would they argue that transplant check-ups are "preventative care"? Who knows. Be careful and good luck.