High deductible health plans, HSA

kmurphy2131 · October 2016

So my brother is turning 26 and is going on his employers health plan. The plan comes at no cost, but there is a $2000 deductible with a $6,000 OOP max. The phrasing for the high deductible health plan is kind of confusing, I *think* he qualifies, but I can't tell if the OOP max has to be >$6550 or <$6550 so I'm not sure. If he qualifies as a HDHP, his employer doesn't offer an HSA. Any recommendations for where he should set up an HSA?

Thanks for any advice!

bmo88 · October 2016

@kmurphy2131: I am a little confused about what you wrote.

Personally, I have a High Deductible Plan with an HSA. So my deductible is $2,500, my OOP max is $2,500, unless I buy prescription medication then the OOP max is $3,250. My monthly premium is $90 for the HDHP, no fee on the HSA account.

Typically, the HSA is just the "savings" account that comes with the High Deductible plan. It is optional to contribute to it, though tax beneficial to front load it with funds and then spend from it on medical expenses. Also, any funds saved in an HSA will be accessible at any point in the future and can be invested in the market after you reach a certain amount. Some people use HSAs as a retirement investment vehicle.

Sometimes there is an account maintenance fee for HSAs, but usually an employer covers it. The High Deductible plan will have a monthly premium, unless the employer covers that as well.

Qualifying for the HDHP should have nothing to do with the HSA other than you can only have an HSA (through your employer) if you have the HDHP. PPO plans do not offer the HSA option. My understanding is that you cannot set up an HSA outside of your health plan.

However, you can open up a flex spending account (FSA), which is different. That is more of a use it or lose it type of fund. It caps out at $5,000 per year in contributions and you have to spend it or the government takes it. It can be spent on child care and qualified medical expenses. If you have an HSA though, you cannot use a flex spending account for medical expenses though. Sot that is maybe where you are confusing the two.

kmurphy2131 · October 2016

bmo88 said:

@kmurphy2131: I am a little confused about what you wrote.

Personally, I have a High Deductible Plan with an HSA. So my deductible is $2,500, my OOP max is $2,500, unless I buy prescription medication then the OOP max is $3,250. My monthly premium is $90 for the HDHP, no fee on the HSA account.

Typically, the HSA is just the "savings" account that comes with the High Deductible plan. It is optional to contribute to it, though tax beneficial to front load it with funds and then spend from it on medical expenses. Also, any funds saved in an HSA will be accessible at any point in the future and can be invested in the market after you reach a certain amount. Some people use HSAs as a retirement investment vehicle.

Sometimes there is an account maintenance fee for HSAs, but usually an employer covers it. The High Deductible plan will have a monthly premium, unless the employer covers that as well.

Qualifying for the HDHP should have nothing to do with the HSA other than you can only have an HSA if you have the HDHP. PPO plans do not offer the HSA option. My understanding is that you cannot set up an HSA outside of your health plan.

However, you can open up a flex spending account (FSA), which is different. That is more of a use it or lose it type of fund. It caps out at $5,000 per year in contributions and you have to spend it or the government takes it. It can be spent on child care and qualified medical expenses. If you have an HSA though, you cannot use a flex spending account for medical expenses though. Sot that is maybe where you are confusing the two.

Sorry what I wrote was really confusing... I was trying to figure out 1) if he had a HDHP (which you answered) and 2) where he could go to get an HSA since employer doesnt offer it. It's not a PPO plan so I don't know why they don't offer it

So the problem is that his work doesn't define it as a high deductible health plan, and they don't offer an HSA. But based on what I am reading I am fairly certain that it does qualify as a HDHP. Based on your plan being HDHP, it is clear to me that his plan would qualify as a HDHP. So he should be eligible for an HSA.

So since his employer doesn't offer an HSA he will have to find his own place to set up an HSA.

edit: his employer does cover the premium 100%, and he has the option for FSA but that is not a good option for him because he doesn't typically need medical care so he would likely lose the funds

Mustard76 · October 2016

There are banks around that offer HSAs. I'm pretty sure even State Farm still offers them. They're fairly easy to come by, even without going through an employer.

bmo88 · October 2016

@kmurphy2131:

This may help a bit:

https://www.zanebenefits.com/blog/bid/309389/Health-Savings-Accounts-HSAs-10-FAQs

He does have to have a HDHP to open an HSA. An HDHP can be obtained through an employer or through the insurance market.

jtmh2012 · October 2016

I've had HSAs through USBANK and my current one is through Discovery Benefits. Those have both been through my employer, so you'd have to check into them to see if they'd offer it independently.

The only bad thing is the funds wouldn't come out pre-tax, but you should be able to deduct them later. I'd check into that though.

short+sassy · October 2016

jtmh2012 said:

I've had HSAs through USBANK and my current one is through Discovery Benefits. Those have both been through my employer, so you'd have to check into them to see if they'd offer it independently.

The only bad thing is the funds wouldn't come out pre-tax, but you should be able to deduct them later. I'd check into that though.

Yes, to me, that would be the biggest problem with him having to set up his own HSA because his employer doesn't have one. The magic of an HSA is your employer takes the money out before taxes. Otherwise, I guess he would put the money (after taxes) into an HSA account and then would get a refund with his tax return or could reduce his withholding to make up for the HSA money being taxed at first. I hope that makes sense!

To me, the best way to tell if a plan is a HDHP is "Are there copays for doctor visits and prescriptions right off the bat? Or would he have to meet his deductible BEFORE any doctor visits and/or prescription costs are covered in any way (other than one annual exam)?" Every HDHP plan I've had covers NOTHING for dr. visits or prescriptions, until the deductible is met. "Traditional" or non-HDHP plans will have co-pays for dr. visits and prescriptions from day one. On those plans, the deductible refers to things like hospitalizations, surgeries, etc.

brij2006 · October 2016

short+sassy said:

jtmh2012 said:

I've had HSAs through USBANK and my current one is through Discovery Benefits. Those have both been through my employer, so you'd have to check into them to see if they'd offer it independently.

The only bad thing is the funds wouldn't come out pre-tax, but you should be able to deduct them later. I'd check into that though.

Yes, to me, that would be the biggest problem with him having to set up his own HSA because his employer doesn't have one. The magic of an HSA is your employer takes the money out before taxes. Otherwise, I guess he would put the money (after taxes) into an HSA account and then would get a refund with his tax return or could reduce his withholding to make up for the HSA money being taxed at first. I hope that makes sense!

Are you still able to deduct it even if your medical expenses for that year weren't 10% of your AGI?

kmurphy2131 · October 2016

Thanks for your thoughts everyone! I passed the ball back to him/my parents so he is going to set up an HSA.

and yes @brij2006 I looked into the tax implications of it, and it looks like you can deduct HSA contributions even if you don't itemize/spend 10% of your income. That seems to be the perk of an HSA

brij2006 · October 2016

Thank @kmurphy2131 We have a ton of medical expenses coming up next year so we may need to look into one.

kmurphy2131 · October 2016

brij2006 said:

Thank @kmurphy2131 We have a ton of medical expenses coming up next year so we may need to look into one.

FSA's are the same too (can be taken out of paycheck pretax) if you don't have a HDHP, but the problem with those is the use it or lose it which is a gamble unless you have known medical expenses.

short+sassy · October 2016

kmurphy2131 said:

Thanks for your thoughts everyone! I passed the ball back to him/my parents so he is going to set up an HSA.

and yes @brij2006 I looked into the tax implications of it, and it looks like you can deduct HSA contributions even if you don't itemize/spend 10% of your income. That seems to be the perk of an HSA

I'd agree. Those seem like two different beasts. Especially since an HSA is not tied to the year the money is put aside tax-free. A person can put $1,000 in an HSA when they're 20 and not use it until they're 75. Or not use it at all and then the money goes into their estate.

If an HSA is offered by an employer, this is also one of the few benefits that can be changed at any time during the year. With more/less taken out of paycheck for it.

@brij2006, there are annual limits as to how much can be put in an HSA. And that limit depends on how many people are covered by the HDHP. For example, if one spouse is on their employer's HDHP, but the other spouse is not, the max. for that year would be based on one person.

This year, for two people, the max. is around $6700. Heck, if you all open an HSA this year, you could fund it up to whatever the max. is and use that money next year (or the future).

brij2006 · October 2016

kmurphy2131 said:

brij2006 said:

Thank @kmurphy2131 We have a ton of medical expenses coming up next year so we may need to look into one.

FSA's are the same too (can be taken out of paycheck pretax) if you don't have a HDHP, but the problem with those is the use it or lose it which is a gamble unless you have known medical expenses.

Well neither of our employers offer either one.
Granted both of our plans are PPO plans so we can't use one then, can't we?

Our problem is that my max OOP is $6,500 and we'll easily meet it in 2017. Plus at least another $2k in other medical expenses (absolute minimum). Yet that won't meet 10% of our AGI to be able to write it off. So I was trying to figure out how we could best set ourselves up for these expenses.

short+sassy · October 2016

brij2006 said:

kmurphy2131 said:

brij2006 said:

Thank @kmurphy2131 We have a ton of medical expenses coming up next year so we may need to look into one.

FSA's are the same too (can be taken out of paycheck pretax) if you don't have a HDHP, but the problem with those is the use it or lose it which is a gamble unless you have known medical expenses.

Well neither of our employers offer either one.
Granted both of our plans are PPO plans so we can't use one then, can't we?

Our problem is that my max OOP is $6,500 and we'll easily meet it in 2017. Plus at least another $2k in other medical expenses (absolute minimum). Yet that won't meet 10% of our AGI to be able to write it off. So I was trying to figure out how we could best set ourselves up for these expenses.

Nope

. Which I don't understand why any person can't put money into an HSA for tax reasons. Most Americans already get the short end of the stick for medical care costs. The least the government can do is at least let people pay for their out-of-pocket expenses with untaxed dollars.

brij2006 · October 2016

short+sassy said:

brij2006 said:

kmurphy2131 said:

brij2006 said:

Thank @kmurphy2131 We have a ton of medical expenses coming up next year so we may need to look into one.

FSA's are the same too (can be taken out of paycheck pretax) if you don't have a HDHP, but the problem with those is the use it or lose it which is a gamble unless you have known medical expenses.

Well neither of our employers offer either one.
Granted both of our plans are PPO plans so we can't use one then, can't we?

Our problem is that my max OOP is $6,500 and we'll easily meet it in 2017. Plus at least another $2k in other medical expenses (absolute minimum). Yet that won't meet 10% of our AGI to be able to write it off. So I was trying to figure out how we could best set ourselves up for these expenses.

Nope . Which I don't understand why any person can't put money into an HSA for tax reasons. Most Americans already get the short end of the stick for medical care costs. The least the government can do is at least let people pay for their out-of-pocket expenses with untaxed dollars.

That really sucks. My deductible is $6k and max OOP is $6,500. Yet we have this dumb premium saver thing that supposedly kicks in $4k, but I have yet for it to kick in on anything this year.

It's just so weird that others with lower deductibles can still do one because their plan isn't PPO. Yet mine has a $6k deductible and my H's has a $4k deductible, but since it's PPO we can't do an FSA. There's probably some rhyme or reason to it though that I don't know.

This is why I happily hand clients over to others for health insurance needs.

kmurphy2131 · October 2016

brij2006 said:

kmurphy2131 said:

brij2006 said:

Thank @kmurphy2131 We have a ton of medical expenses coming up next year so we may need to look into one.

FSA's are the same too (can be taken out of paycheck pretax) if you don't have a HDHP, but the problem with those is the use it or lose it which is a gamble unless you have known medical expenses.

Well neither of our employers offer either one.
Granted both of our plans are PPO plans so we can't use one then, can't we?

Our problem is that my max OOP is $6,500 and we'll easily meet it in 2017. Plus at least another $2k in other medical expenses (absolute minimum). Yet that won't meet 10% of our AGI to be able to write it off. So I was trying to figure out how we could best set ourselves up for these expenses.

That sounds a lot like my brothers plan. What is your deductible? What i have been trying to figure out - and I think I have figured out is possible - is that as long as the deductible is >$1500 and max OOP is <$6550 you can open up your own HSA, even if you employer doesn't offer one. Its just that you wont get the tax benefit until the end of the year

cupcait927 · October 2016

brij2006 said:

short+sassy said:

brij2006 said:

kmurphy2131 said:

brij2006 said:

Thank @kmurphy2131 We have a ton of medical expenses coming up next year so we may need to look into one.

FSA's are the same too (can be taken out of paycheck pretax) if you don't have a HDHP, but the problem with those is the use it or lose it which is a gamble unless you have known medical expenses.

Well neither of our employers offer either one.
Granted both of our plans are PPO plans so we can't use one then, can't we?

Our problem is that my max OOP is $6,500 and we'll easily meet it in 2017. Plus at least another $2k in other medical expenses (absolute minimum). Yet that won't meet 10% of our AGI to be able to write it off. So I was trying to figure out how we could best set ourselves up for these expenses.

Nope . Which I don't understand why any person can't put money into an HSA for tax reasons. Most Americans already get the short end of the stick for medical care costs. The least the government can do is at least let people pay for their out-of-pocket expenses with untaxed dollars.

That really sucks. My deductible is $6k and max OOP is $6,500. Yet we have this dumb premium saver thing that supposedly kicks in $4k, but I have yet for it to kick in on anything this year.

It's just so weird that others with lower deductibles can still do one because their plan isn't PPO. Yet mine has a $6k deductible and my H's has a $4k deductible, but since it's PPO we can't do an FSA. There's probably some rhyme or reason to it though that I don't know.

This is why I happily hand clients over to others for health insurance needs.

A little clarification on some terms and HSAs. PPO stands for Preferred Provider Organization, meaning you can use in and out of network doctors, you don't need a PCP and you don't need referrals for specialists. HDHPs can be PPOs, not just copay or hybrid (copay & deductible) plans. At least that's my definition of a PPO (I work for a health insurance broker).

HSAs are not compatible with any plan except an HDHP because they cannot be combined with plans that offer "first dollar coverage", which are typically copay plans and hybrid plans (plans that combine copays and deductibles depending on the type of service). If your employer does not offer an HSA or does not contribute to one, anyone with an HDHP can open their own. The minimum deductible your plan has to have is $1300 single/$2600 family and the OOP max cannot exceed $6550 single/$13,100 family. I do know that you can deduct your own HSA contributions from your taxes, even if your employer also contributes (H and I just did it on our taxes last year and we don't itemize).

You can open an FSA and use it for medical expenses as long as you don't have a HDHP. As PPs have mentioned, the max contribution limit is lower and you lose the money at the end of the year if you haven't spent it. You can also use it on dental and vision expenses, regardless of the type of medical plan that you have. I put money into an FSA every year for our vision expenses (both H and I have contacts and glasses) since it's a known cost and I'd rather not use my HSA for it.

@brij2006 - you and your H both have straight HDHP plans (no copays for anything)? Do your employers offer an HRA (Health reimbursement account) or something else along those lines? It's strange that you can't have an HSA, unless it's just something your employers don't offer but you could set up on your own.

Also, in case it makes anyone feel a little better about having high deductibles, H and I have a $12,000 deductible/OOP max. Granted, the individual OOP max now is $6550 but still. If we got into a car accident, we could easily have to shell out $12,000 just like that.

brij2006 · October 2016

kmurphy2131 said:

brij2006 said:

kmurphy2131 said:

brij2006 said:

Thank @kmurphy2131 We have a ton of medical expenses coming up next year so we may need to look into one.

FSA's are the same too (can be taken out of paycheck pretax) if you don't have a HDHP, but the problem with those is the use it or lose it which is a gamble unless you have known medical expenses.

Well neither of our employers offer either one.
Granted both of our plans are PPO plans so we can't use one then, can't we?

Our problem is that my max OOP is $6,500 and we'll easily meet it in 2017. Plus at least another $2k in other medical expenses (absolute minimum). Yet that won't meet 10% of our AGI to be able to write it off. So I was trying to figure out how we could best set ourselves up for these expenses.

That sounds a lot like my brothers plan. What is your deductible? What i have been trying to figure out - and I think I have figured out is possible - is that as long as the deductible is >$1500 and max OOP is <$6550 you can open up your own HSA, even if you employer doesn't offer one. Its just that you wont get the tax benefit until the end of the year

My deductible is $6k and max OOP is $6,500.
H & DD's deductible is $4k and max OOP is $9k.
Both of those are for individuals.

I'm good with not being able to deduct it till the end of the year, but the last 3 years we've been very close to meeting the 10% of our AGI in health expenses needed to be able to write it off, but just barely shy. Last year we were shy $500 so we didn't get to write any of it off.

In 2017 we'll have the birth of a baby under my plan, so $6,500 for just me. Baby will be on H's health plan so possibly meeting the $4k deductible.
If we meet the $4k deductible then we'll have enough to write it all off, but if not then we won't. That's why I'm curious about an HSA outside of an employer.

brij2006 · October 2016

@cupcait927 Our plans do have co-pays for office visits and 80/20 coinsurance after the deductible. Which is dumb on mine since the deductible is $6k and max OOP is $6,500. Why even have the deductible at all? Just put it all at $6,500 or $6,000.

So based on your explanation we wouldn't be able to purchase one for H and DD because their max OOP is over $6,550? It's $9k for individual, $12k for family (thank God they just switched, it used to be $16k).

Also, you deserve a case of wine for being a health insurance broker. We outsource that to a different agency and I'm so glad we do. The new options are so confusing.

cupcait927 · October 2016

brij2006 said:

@cupcait927 Our plans do have co-pays for office visits and 80/20 coinsurance after the deductible. Which is dumb on mine since the deductible is $6k and max OOP is $6,500. Why even have the deductible at all? Just put it all at $6,500 or $6,000.

So based on your explanation we wouldn't be able to purchase one for H and DD because their max OOP is over $6,550? It's $9k for individual, $12k for family (thank God they just switched, it used to be $16k).

Also, you deserve a case of wine for being a health insurance broker. We outsource that to a different agency and I'm so glad we do. The new options are so confusing.

You actually can have an HSA for your husband's plan

Sorry if my post was a little confusing! ACA caps an individual's OOP max at $6,550 within a family plan but it doesn't affect HSA eligibility. Also, if he does open an HSA, he can contribute the family maximum (since both he and your daughter are on the same HDHP plan) and use the HSA dollars towards your expenses as well, since you're married.

This time of year is absolutely crazy for me, since most employer groups renew their health plans 1/1. I have been drinking lots and lots of wine!

brij2006 · October 2016

cupcait927 said:

brij2006 said:

@cupcait927 Our plans do have co-pays for office visits and 80/20 coinsurance after the deductible. Which is dumb on mine since the deductible is $6k and max OOP is $6,500. Why even have the deductible at all? Just put it all at $6,500 or $6,000.

So based on your explanation we wouldn't be able to purchase one for H and DD because their max OOP is over $6,550? It's $9k for individual, $12k for family (thank God they just switched, it used to be $16k).

Also, you deserve a case of wine for being a health insurance broker. We outsource that to a different agency and I'm so glad we do. The new options are so confusing.

You actually can have an HSA for your husband's plan Sorry if my post was a little confusing! ACA caps an individual's OOP max at $6,550 within a family plan but it doesn't affect HSA eligibility. Also, if he does open an HSA, he can contribute the family maximum (since both he and your daughter are on the same HDHP plan) and use the HSA dollars towards your expenses as well, since you're married.

This time of year is absolutely crazy for me, since most employer groups renew their health plans 1/1. I have been drinking lots and lots of wine!

I did not know this. I need to do some more researching with his new plan on this. Really hoping there is something I'm missing, but I swear his new plan has a $9k individual max OOP because I about crapped my pants reading what it would be now. Especially with DD on that plan. One broken limb and we've met it.

Do you have any place you recommend to start an HSA at since neither of our employers offer it? Also, can you front load it? So could we put all of the money in it at the beginning of the year for something happening mid-year?

kmurphy2131 · October 2016

brij2006 said:

cupcait927 said:

brij2006 said:

@cupcait927 Our plans do have co-pays for office visits and 80/20 coinsurance after the deductible. Which is dumb on mine since the deductible is $6k and max OOP is $6,500. Why even have the deductible at all? Just put it all at $6,500 or $6,000.

So based on your explanation we wouldn't be able to purchase one for H and DD because their max OOP is over $6,550? It's $9k for individual, $12k for family (thank God they just switched, it used to be $16k).

Also, you deserve a case of wine for being a health insurance broker. We outsource that to a different agency and I'm so glad we do. The new options are so confusing.

You actually can have an HSA for your husband's plan Sorry if my post was a little confusing! ACA caps an individual's OOP max at $6,550 within a family plan but it doesn't affect HSA eligibility. Also, if he does open an HSA, he can contribute the family maximum (since both he and your daughter are on the same HDHP plan) and use the HSA dollars towards your expenses as well, since you're married.

This time of year is absolutely crazy for me, since most employer groups renew their health plans 1/1. I have been drinking lots and lots of wine!

I did not know this. I need to do some more researching with his new plan on this. Really hoping there is something I'm missing, but I swear his new plan has a $9k individual max OOP because I about crapped my pants reading what it would be now. Especially with DD on that plan. One broken limb and we've met it.

Do you have any place you recommend to start an HSA at since neither of our employers offer it? Also, can you front load it? So could we put all of the money in it at the beginning of the year for something happening mid-year?

I turned finding a place over to my brother, but there were a lot of places when I googled, hard to say which are better or worse though unfortunately.

I'm ont sure about frontloading it, but I assume you can.

KAdams767 · October 2016

I think you need to speak with each of your respective insurance providers to confirm if either of your plans is specifically defined as an HDHP. If you have office visit co-pays as you said, IME, this is likely NOT a qualified HDHP and you would not be eligible to open an HSA.

cupcait927 · October 2016

KAdams767 said:

I think you need to speak with each of your respective insurance providers to confirm if either of your plans is specifically defined as an HDHP. If you have office visit co-pays as you said, IME, this is likely NOT a qualified HDHP and you would not be eligible to open an HSA.

Correct, any plans with a copay are considered to have "first dollar coverage" and they are not HSA compliant. It would definitely be a good idea for your H to speak with his employer to make sure it is an HSA compliant HDHP, @brij2006.

As far as him having a $9k individual OOP max - that I would also confirm with his employer. It has been my understanding that under ACA, you cannot have an individual OOP max that exceeds $6,850 (even on a family plan, an individual could not exceed that amount in a plan year) and for the plan to be HSA-compliant, the individual OOP max could not exceed $6,550. Is your H's plan year effective 1/1 or did his coverage start in 2015?

blondie42107 · October 2016

With my new employer, I was offered three different health plans. All were great options but I ended up picking the HDHP. The OOP Max is $2500 for our family; I little more for Rx. My employer pays 100% of the premium and funds the HSA with the full $2500/annually. We can still add to it. (Thank you @hoffse that helped explain and sort out HSA info with me back in January!)

The HSA managed by the bank my employer uses for payroll. We also have an account there and have our mortgage there. They are very easy to work with. I love having the HSA. I only had a medical flex account with my previous employer.

Edited to say: my employer puts the full $2500 in at the beginning of the year. I can add money through regular payroll deductions.

brij2006 · October 2016

KAdams767 said:

I think you need to speak with each of your respective insurance providers to confirm if either of your plans is specifically defined as an HDHP. If you have office visit co-pays as you said, IME, this is likely NOT a qualified HDHP and you would not be eligible to open an HSA.

Yeah I shot off an e-mail to the girl who handles our group plan, but I know it's likely I won't hear back from her for quite a while.

I wish they would allow HSA's for everyone, no matter the plan. We'll still definitely meet my max OOP next year. Even after co-pays and co-insurance.

brij2006 · October 2016

@cupcait927 They just switched to this plan 10/1. It's with Blue Cross, thankfully. Prior to this they had Coventry and it didn't pay out for anything and the PPO providers were very limited.

short+sassy · October 2016

@cupcait927, thanks for the better clarifications. I always thought what determined an HDHP plan was if you could get away with dr. visits/prescription copays, before reaching a deductible.

Quite frankly, it's only been within the last 10 years or so that HDHPs even existed. At least that was the first time I came across one. Before that, it was all $25 co-pay dr. and $10/$25/$50 prescription co-pay tiers. I mean, the co-pay amounts varied a bit, but that was the gist. I'd never heard of anything else.

Now, almost everything is HDHP. I've been surprised at how fast it has moved in that direction. Which is still okay if the deductible is reasonable. But it isn't with mine or with most other's I've read. They are basically nothing better than a catastrophic plan.

smerka · October 2016

We just switched to a HDHP with an HSA this year. Highly recommend especially if you meet the OOP max on the other kind of plan. We do not have and OOP max anymore - just a deductible of $5,200 which we hit in March. Jan-March we had to pay every bill in full. Both my kids get speech and OT so it was maybe $250 per week until we hit the deductible plus whatever else came up. The first year was rough because we were paying that plus having money deducted to fund the max on the HSA after DH's employer put their $2,000 in. So in 2017 we will just be using HSA money to pay that deductible. We got burned many times on not being able to deduct medical expenses because if you have insurance premiums deducted pre-tax it is really hard to get to 10%

smerka · October 2016

DHs HR person told me she thinks everyone will go to a HDHP with an HSA. Kind of like everyone went from an HMO to a PPO. It definitely holds you more accountable to checking the bills thoroughly when you're paying the whole thing.

smerka · October 2016

These are the magic numbers from the IRS.

High deductible health plan. For calendar year 2017, a “high deductible health plan” is defined under § 223(c)(2)(A) as a health plan with an annual deductible that is not less than $1,300 for self-only coverage or $2,600 for family coverage, and the annual out-of-pocket expenses (deductibles, co-payments, and other amounts, but not premiums) do not exceed $6,550 for self-only coverage or $13,100 for family coverage. SECTION 3. EFFECTIVE DATE

High deductible health plans, HSA

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