Health Spending Accounts - USA

[Mazzy]

Tried posting this in third trimester forum, but may not be the right place to post...

I'm in my last stretch of pregnancy and my company is currently going through open enrollment for insurance. I am thinking of possibly switching to an HSA through my husband's company instead, which means high-deductible. I will have my usual insurance coverage until the end of the year - which means childbirth is covered under the current traditional plan, and then well-baby for 2 months. Then in January, it would switch to the HSA/High-deductible.

Does anyone have any thoughts or advice on this? Should I keep my traditional plan (which costs double in premiums)? Just trying to get a feel for those who have an HSA. Thanks!

 

[mkm1083]

The answer is - it depends.

High deductible policies with an HSA backing them up are great for people that do not go to the doctor a lot and are generally healthy. In addition, the contributions made to an HSA do not have be withdrawn at the end of the plan year (unlike an FSA). So the amount that you contribute can keep accumulating and actually act like a side retirement account if you never need to use it. The downside to a high-deductible policy is that if you do have something catastophic happen before you build up the HSA to cover the deductible then you need to cover it all at once. Hospitals will work out payment arrangements though.

I love having a high deductible plan. I'm very healthy so I save a huge amount in premiums.

Also, I have a double bachelor's in accounting and financial planning and work in public accounting. I deal with HSAs from a tax perspective all the time. General consenus is that people absolutely love them.