scrubbedexpat099

I had read? that many Employers were moving away from traditional plans.

Pulaski

They are - and deductibles (on traditional policies) are rising, so the benefits of staying on traditional health insurance are reduced, and that is what pushed us to taking HD insurance. When our annual medical expenses weren't even reaching the $1,000 deductible per person of the traditional policy, taking the HD alternative and cutting the premiums by 80% was a no-brainer, as was taking the 80% and putting it in HSAs.

Scottish_Lad

Am l correct in saying that the HSA will keep accumulating and not expire..?

also if you take a high deductible plan, are you just paying for seeing the doc for routine things, if so, what is a general nothing serious appointment cost..?

thanks

scrubbedexpat099

A Doctors appointment, $130 or so, if you end up in EMR then you can start adding 0's.

Scottish_Lad

thanks - think I plan that reduces the cost would be better then

Pulaski

Correct, the funds in an HSA are yours to keep. Draw from it to meet permitted medical expenses (basically any service by a legit medical practitioner or any prescribed medication or treatment, or use it for whatever you like after you retire - use it to buy a sports car or go on a world cruise if you like. That said the only sensible option is to continue to use your HSA to meet healthcare costs after you retire.
Yes - medical billing still goes through the insurance company, but we then pay the whole amount. I think I am currently paying about $175 for a basic "I have an infection" consultation with my GP* (yank-speak = "family doctor"), and a prescription of antibiotics is costing $3-$8 for a two week supply, but we could see a doctor once a month, paying for the consultation (from our HSA) and still save money compared to what we would be paying in premiums per month for traditional health insurance! And our aggregate HSA balances are now well into five figures, and I mean a long way into five figures!

* I presume that, like for any other (non-medical) service, you would pay more in a large city than where I live, in a fairly rural area of NC.
But then you would almost immediately exceed your annual deductible, which for me caps at around $3k per person, $8k for the family, IIRC

I ended up in the ER 11 years ago with blood poisoning, and spent three days in hospital on an antibiotic drip, and had the most minor surgery under general anesthetic you could imagine - two skin excisions. The bill was (just) over $20k.

Ironically being landed with 10% of the bill is what tipped us into "going HD" - we were paying about $1k/mth for traditional and STILL got a $2k bill! If I had been on an HD policy back then I would have probably had to pay $3-$5k, but we would have saved close to $10k/yr in premiums, so the amount I paid would have been dwarfed by the annual savings.