[USER]

I currently have marketplace insurance and pay $50 a month for pretty good coverage due to 2 dependents and my income.

My employer will now be offering health insurance if certain amount of hours are met.

I looked over the numbers today and for the health insurance the middle plan is $300 a month which makes zero sense to me to pay that much when I get it for $50

They do offer a HSA plan for $130 a month and my employer matches $40 per month.

I know very little about out HSA accounts but I have done some reason about it but it all confuses me, I need it broken down like a 5 year old

Would it be dumb for me to let go of a $50 good health insurance for a HSA?

In that a good or bad match from my employer?

Is there any other questions I should ask about an HSA?

Does HSA offer a free yearly checkup or is everything literally out of pocket?

When I go to the doctor and they ask for my insurance do I say I have a HSA and get a discount?

The company for the HSA is health equity if that helps any.

I’m 38 female, decent health, maybe visit my primary doctor 3-4x a year… and my primary stopped taking marketplace so I pay $150 as a cash patient.

But the insurance has helped in other aspects of seeing my gynecologist 2x a year and had a procedure done that would have been $38,000 and I had to pay $1800 out of pocket.

Thank you for taking the time to read this and hope to get some helpful information

[Chris]

As for the plan the hsa is a perk Of a high deductible plan. How much is the deductible?

The plan should cover prevention and it negotiates with doctor offices like a regular company so it’s not an hsa discount.

You need more details on max out of pocket and if Dr is in network.

[Jessica]

If your employer offers insurance I’m pretty sure that makes you ineligible for the market place discount you’re getting.

[Chris]

If your employer offers an “affordable “ health care plan my understanding is you lose the subsidy option on the exchange unless you are qualified for Medicaid insurance.

I definitely could have outdated info but I believe they fixed the family glitch as well for your two kids if they need to join your work plan.

[Karen]

HSA is a type of savings account that you can contribute to if you have a high deductible health plan (HDHP).

With the HDHP, you often still get a discount due to negotiated rates, but you would be responsible for most of the cost for most services, up to a max out-of-pocket (OOP) limit for the year.

I had an HDHP at my former job and loved it – the trick is to use the HSA account to set aside money to pay those costs you are responsible for so you aren’t surprised with a big bill.

(Alternatively some people don’t pay out of the HSA and use that as a retirement savings vehicle, but ignore that for this comment,) Once you reach the max OOP for the year, the insurance company pays the other costs.

I find that the HDHP can be really advantageous compared to your other options, but you have to look at the numbers and run scenarios.

What is the max OOP for the HDHP?

[Hannah]

Compare the deductibles and the OOP max so you can see how much you’ll be paying.

You don’t tell them you have an HSA when you go for an appointment, the HSA is just how you pay.

It’s no different to your provider than a credit card

[Jennifer]

HSA is just a way to save for healthcare costs. Not to do with coverage.

But HSA means high deductible.

[Julie]

Once you have access to employer health insurance you are no longer eligible for the premium tax credit and would be paying a lot more then $50 a month thru marketplace.

[Caro]

What’s your savings rate look like otherwise? I have an HSA plan and I’m basically paying everything out of pocket while not using HSA dollars so it’s kinda $$.

Can you afford to do that?

Re: the hours…

I guess you should see if you have a choice but even so HSA doesn’t always make sense depending on your big picture.

[Rick]

Does your current plan qualify for an hsa? I ask because this should be pretty clear as many, but not all, ACA plans say they are an “hsa eligible hdhp plan”.

That all being said, the difference between a “good” plan and whatever is not considered a good plan is mostly what others like your employer or your teammate employees or other taxpayers are paying for you so good is very contextually relative.

Others are paying for you when you don’t pay.

[Regina]

If you have insurance through work You can keep the marketplace insurance but lose the subsidy.

I do this.

HSA is only available with high deductible plans so your insurance deductibles will be high.

[Author]

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