Pulaski

Yes, that's what our policies are - we have a choice of, among other things, "traditional" PPO or an HD PPO, basically the same deal but with different premiums and deductibles, plus an HSA tacked on to the HD policy.

nun

My plan has enrollment in April and the premium increase was 2.9%. I'm lucky and get employer retiree health insurance and only pay 25% of the premium.

Noorah101

We only have the 2 choices...either a PPO with no HSA, or a high deductable which requires an HSA. You can't have a PPO and an HSA, to my knowledge, but you could have an FSA.

Rene

Pulaski

"PPO" (or "HMO") describes how the policy works, HD describes how you pay for it, so HD and PPO are not mutually exclusive. What you said would be like comparing a fast food restaurant with a sit-down restaurant and trying to describe them as "cash" or "credit card".

Bob

What I'm intrigued about and not looked into any details of, what happens if you move jobs or get laid off because you're sick and thus lose the insurance?

Does it transfer to another plan? Can you pull the funds out?

Pulaski

It's mine, I own it, and it is very similar to a 401k. If I switch jobs I can just plug it into another insurance policy.* Or I can stop contributing and continue to use it for IRS-approved medical expenses, or just leave it dormant, invested (it has 401k-like investment choices). Or, when I retire, it becomes freely available - though I expect our HSAs will continue to fund healthcare expenses in our retirement.

* I think I could also roll it over into another employer's HSA arrangements (still in my name), or leave it as is, just not fund it, so again it behaves much like a 401k.

sir_eccles

See small print.

Rete

We received notification that the NYS teacher's union is extending the Aetna Advantage supplemental insurance for another year. They did not state what the increase, if any, would be.

They have changed the drug plan, however, from Express Scripts (which I dislike with a passion as they are incompetent) to CVS pharmacy.

Would love to try out one of the other options for drug plans that offer $1 copayment. Only draw back is that if I do that, I can't get back on the union plan.

MidAtlantic

The HSA is your bank account and can be used for any "qualified" (by the IRS) medical expense. It just goes with you.

Withdrawals for non-qualified purposes before age 65 attract a 20% penalty in addition to tax, so is not recommended!

From age 65 withdrawals can be made for any purpose without penalty, but with tax payable. Some advisers suggest using them as a retirement tool.

kodokan

Like a 401k, it belongs to the employee. When hubby got laid off in 2014, his Bank of America HSA linked to his employment automatically became a normal BofA one. They sent us new cards with different account numbers, and started charging $4 a month, their standard admin fee for non-group plans.

We then used the HSA to pay health insurance premiums; the IRS consider this a legitimate medical use for COBRA, or any health insurance premiums while simultaneously claiming unemployment benefit. This makes it a useful part of a job loss emergency fund.

When hubby got his new job, also with a HSA plan, we rolled the old BofA money into the new HealthEquity plan, partly for simplicity, and partly because it has much better investment options with cheap Vanguard funds.

We fully fund the HSA annually, but actually pay out of pocket health costs from normal, taxable money, and leave the HSA money invested in the tax deferred wrapper. I view it as another IRA, with the added advantage of being able to use it for medical costs for extreme emergencies. It's also $6,750 of earnings that never needs to have FICA paid on it (only applies for payroll deductions, not if you self-fund).

Pulaski

Medical insurance up 3.9% this year, so a total increase of $6.81/mth for Mrs P, little Miss P, and me.

But my optional health insurance is down by $9.97/mth for the same coverage.

Owen778

Our enrollment period is about to end, and we've finally moved to HDHP. Our family situation meant this wasn't such an obvious choice as it is for most people, but the cost difference and tax advantages are really persuasive.

We had a choice of seven plans, four with my employer, of which two are HDHP, and three with my wife's employer, and again two are HDHP. For my wife's employer, the PPO plan is worse than either HDHP plan at all levels of expenditure. It's awful. In the end the obvious choice was my employer's HDHP Gold family plan: $2600 deductible, $8000 OOP, $1300 up-front company contribution (though that may not last many years). It also helped that my employer's HSA is moving from HSA Bank to Fidelity, who are one of the better providers.

MidAtlantic

$1300 up-front from your employer is good! So half your deductible is already met.

Owen778

Yes, it's excellent. My company are keen on keeping people healthy so that they keep working.

Each year, they hold enrollment Q&A meetings to help people understand their options. Previously, they've been done by one of the HR staff working the benefits administration, who understands most of the details well, but not the big picture. This year, her boss, the Director of Benefits, did the talks, and really pushed the value of the HDHP options, plus they have brought in a new external web-based tool called Alex to help people make their benefits choices.

Pulaski

* My earlier post contained an error - it said "health" instead of "life".

There is no change in the family dental insurance premium, and the vision insurance is up by 26¢/ mth.

Accidental death and dismemberment insurance for the family and me is also down by $2.40/mth, but long term disability for me is up by 17¢/ mth.

So overall, deductions from my pay are down $5.13. The number is actually skewed by tax, but it is mostly the after tax figures that are down, and the pretax figures that are up, so the benefit is going to be greater than the $5.13 figure.