I need to make a health insurance decision for my employer's open enrollment and I would like feedback on what appears to be the best choice.
First, a bit of background:
My employer provides group health insurance and pays 85% of the employee-only premium regardless of the coverage the employee chooses. The premium costs for the employer's plan are the same for each employee regardless of age or number of children in a family plan. For my relatively young and healthy family of three, this means family plan premiums would be exorbitant compared to DW and DD purchasing private plans. Thus, we have already made the decision to place DW and DD on a privately-purchased family HDHP.
The current question is which plan I should choose for myself. The attached pdf shows a spreadsheet I put together to compare choices. The far left box is PPO plan. The far right box is the HDHP. Premiums for the HDHP are slightly lower than for the PPO. But the PPO has the benefit of copays for primary care ($30), specialist ($50), urgent care ($75), and emergency room ($200) visits in addition to copays for prescription drugs.
I generally consume little healthcare but it is reasonable to assume that I will darken a doctor's door at least once or twice per year for minor ailments (usually a sinus infection). Odds are I will not hit the deductible of either plan (knock on wood). Local healthcare provider rates are such that, if I were to visit my primary care doctor twice, I would pay more to the healthcare provider than the amount of premiums I saved by choosing the HDHP. Same if I had one urgent care visit. I consider prescription drugs to be a toss up because I do not regularly take prescription drugs and some drugs could be cheaper on the HDHP and some more expensive.
NOTE that since DW and DD are already on a family HDHP (thus making us eligible for the full family HSA contribution limit), there is no tax benefit associated with me choosing the HDHP.
What would you do?
