[USER]

I’m a 50 yr old dad with heart desease but it’s manageable. My kids are currently under my ex’s heath insurance which is a PPO.

I got a new job recently.

Should I go with the regular PPO or the HD plan?

I’ve looked through the differences but honestly still a bit confusing

[Don]

Make a simple spreadsheet. Lowest possible annual cost for each plan (monthly contributions).

Include HSA tax savings and any company seed money.

Highest possible annual cost, Max out of pocket.

Then do a typical year with your expected costs, dr visits, etc.

When I did this the max out of pocket+ monthly contributions was usually usually actually really close.

And if I had a healthy year I’d save thousands.

Plus I kept building up big money in the HSA.

Hdhp for the win in my experience

(employer and health condition).
Crunch your own numbers

[Andrea]

Depends on what medications you need and what providers you want to see, plus how much you want to pay up front in deductibles.

Call each plan or ask if you have an HR or employee liaison who can walk you through the differences

[Laurie]

Do you typically hit the out of pocket max? It really depends on your medical situation and how much management costs.

With the HD plan You will have to pay out of pocket 100% of the cost until you hit the deductible which can be a pretty big hit up front.

If you’re someone who doesn’t always hit the OOPM then you’re paying $200-$250 for every single doctors appointment instead of the $20-60 you’d pay with a PPO.

However, if you know you’ll hit the OOPM anyways then that number is often somewhat similar.

Obviously the HSA is a great account (vs the FSA with the PPO), but it was really difficult when my husband’s company switched to the HD option and all of a sudden taking my daughter in for an ear infection got us a $250 bill instead of the $20 bill we’d had on the PPO …

but when we both had surgery last year and we hit our OOPM it didn’t matter as much

[Seve]

I would think the regular PPO if you think you will hit that deductible.

It depends on how often you think you’ll need medical care.

[Brian]

If you can max out contributions to the HSA and not use it (pay cash for all deductibles and Rxs)

the math usually favors this approach.

The HSA is the only vehicle that you contribute to and withdraw from tax free and is a wonderful savings account for retirement.

[Brian]

Depends. For us it was a no brainer to go HD. Even having to pay the full deductible, it’s still a savings.

Compare the premiums and the deductibles

[Author]

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