In between of choosing my benefits and not sure if I should just opt for an HSA instead? Thankfully I am relatively healthy and just go to the docs + dentist for yearly check ups. I don’t want to waste $$ from my paycheck more than I need to; thoughts?

Anyone else have an HSA and how do you use your $$?

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If your health allows it, the HSA is the best place to put your money. It's the only triple tax advantaged account.

You are not taxed on:
1. Contributions
2. Distributions
3. Interest earned (capital gains)

Medical expenses will accrue over time, but you don't need to file them in any time period, so pay out of pocket if you can.

The real benefit comes a few years down the road, when you withdraw straight interest earnings tax free. I wish I'd have started mine way earlier than 27.

likesmart

👍🏾👍🏾 Just make sure you track eligible expenses somewhere and save the receipts so that you have them when you go to file.

helpful

I only opt into PPO plans. HSA is def beneficial if you have an unexpected expense/doctor visit at a low cost, but in the event of more complicated doc visits you can't beat the costs after the fact. Unbeknownst to me, top of October I ended up needing vein procedures in both legs due to large amounts of blood flowing backwards in my body 😭. $8,000 later I am only paying $1K of that. So whatever you decide, try to factor in unexpected occurrences even if you are great health or shape.

helpful

Ah, that's a really good point. I always forget that the deductible and out-of-pocket max varies. You should always check that.

My HDHP deductible is only $2,250 and the OOP Max is like $4,000. The cost difference between the normal plan premium and HDHP basically makes up the deductible, and I'm net-positive with the HSA even if I had to pay the max. Worst case it's break-even, but you keep the money. Definitely not the same scenario for everyone though. Gotta run the numbers case by case.

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I never use my health insurance. I haven’t been sick in three years and haven’t had a physical in a while. This is because I had great care growing up and my lifestyle generally hasn’t changed. I feel good, haven’t aged, etc. I will get a baseline soon, but generally the body doesn’t change drastically.

That being said, I pay for the best PPO plan available. You never know when you’ll need it and I like the flexibility and feel more comfortable with the coverage.

My father also practiced medicine, so it’s been drilled into my head to always have a PPO plan. I may be bias.

Note: I’m early 30s and single.

helpful

Do it and consider it savings. The funds don’t expire at the end of the year they’re yours to use whenever, including years from now, as long as for qualified expenses. (Paid for several dental implants over years.)

helpful

HSAs make a ton of sense of you are young, healthy, high income, and can funnel enough money into it for long enough where it becomes an effective investment tool. That said (as others have pointed out) it is impossible to know when you could get sick, or need care, and if you haven’t built it up enough you could be looking at thousands out of pocket. PPO removes that uncertainty and makes sure you will see value from the plan if you need it day 1 or year 5. My two cents, get the PPO - it isn’t worth it to take that kind of uncertainty when your health is involved

helpful

I would need to see the details of the plans to really say what I would do.

My mom worked at a health insurance company doing communications and taught me a lot over the years about how different plans work and the pluses and minuses of each. If your company is contributing towards the plan with the HSA, it could be worthwhile to go with that option. However, not knowing the other options it’s difficult to say for sure. You need to do the math and think about how much risk you’re willing to assume.

I was given four options of plans for next year and chose the PPO over the HDHP with HSA (the second best option) because the deductibles and out of pocket maximums on the HDHP with HSA were thousands more than on the PPO. The premiums were only about $13 less per 2 week pay period on the HDHP with HSA than on the PPO. My company wouldn’t contribute any money to the HSA fund, either, as a part of that plan.

When I showed it to my mom she said that plan looked like a cost cutting move on the company’s part, and that the plan isn’t worth it if the company doesn’t put any money in to help make up for the high deductible. Apparently the HDHP plans with HSA were specifically designed and marketed as plans where the company would contribute towards the HSA fund each year. The math didn’t add up on the HDHP with HSA plan for me compared to the PPO.

If your company puts in money then that would definitely help make it worthwhile and would help offset the higher deductible if something major health wise was to come up. But I would do the math and look at the details of the plans carefully.

I’m not a fan of health insurance companies and want socialized medicine, but we have to deal with the system we’ve got for the time being and try to make the best choices for ourselves given the available options.

helpful

PPO and HDHP are not mutually exclusive. Always get PPO option for control over your own health. And choose the high deductible PPO version. In our case, it’s not much higher than the non-HD deductibles.

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