Cool. If we can be of any help, let me know.
For my company, I created several graphs comparing the plans at various levels of healthcare spending, toying with scenarios where “one person get very sick” or “two people get very sick” etc. There were a few specific scenarios where the non-HSA plan could save a small amount of money, but in most scenarios the HSA was going to save money in the long run, even if every penny of the account was spent.
If you’re young and healthy, the HSA option will usually be the better option. If you’re not, it’s going to depend entirely on the specifics of the plans you are offered.
I used to have an HSA and it was ok. But you need to check what your HSA will pay for to take full advantage of it. I had my HSA pay for radon mitigation for my house, and the next year for a full body x-ray on the last eligible day (you have to REALLY READ the lists).
This year I’m starting again because I’ve had a lot of physical therapy over the last two years.
I kept copies of everything submission til it cleared and checked the account religiously and I never had any problems.
I’m 59, and a very minimal user of healthcare services, but in a family riddled with cancer. I have a HDHP, and add extra money to my HSA. There’s enough in there to cover the deductible. I don’t use the HSA for my monthly thyroid medicine, because it’s cheap and it’s easier tax-wise not to touch the money. I’m looking at that fund as an adjunct to my 401K. I don’t need the money now, but I will someday.
I miss HMOs.
StG
That’s the smartest way to do it. The real value of the HSA is in the long-term compounding. If each year you put the $3600 max in but take, say, $2K back out to pay for pills & office visits, you’ve effectively gutted the benefit. Far better to fund it annually and not touch it until it’s huge a decade or more from when you begin.
Like so much of the US tax & health policy, it doesn’t do beans for the hand-to-mouth budget-conscious families it’s ostensibly aimed at, but pays off like a slot machine for the already comfortable.