Non-ACA, HSA eligible Health Insurance plans for young, self-employed people.

[pmac]

After a frustrating search on the Healthcare.gov site, none of the ACA plans offered to my wife and I are HSA eligible.

Has anybody had luck finding non-ACA, HSA eligible health insurance with one of the big insurance groups (United, Blue Cross, Aetna, Kaiser)?

Blue Cross Blue Shield Texas offered a non-ACA, HSA eligible plan, but the monthly premiums were around $700/month, and included several things I didn't need.

I also looked into some of the short-term health insurance plans, but none of them covered prescription drugs (they offered a "discount card" womp womp).

We're both super healthy, self-employed (above the 400% FPL) but want coverage for any catastrophic events plus the ability to do HSA contributions.

Hopefully somebody is in a similar situation and found a good solution. Perhaps the HSA contributions I was hoping to make just aren't worth it at the sky high premiums I'm seeing.

[frugaldrummer]

Do you mean an unsubsidized plan? (The term ACA applies to more than subsidies - it includes very important protections like no lifetime caps, coverage for mental illness and pregnancy, annual maximum out of pocket expense etc. )

If you qualify for a subsidy under the ACA you're unlikely to benefit from buying a full price plan. If you make too much money for a subsidy anyway then take a look at Kaiser - I have a bronze plan that is HSA eligible with them.

[pmac]

Yes, unsubsidized. We are above the 400% FPL so don't qualify for subsidies.

I'll look at Kaiser. Thanks

[seattlecyclone]

I think this will depend a lot on your state. For example when looking at ACA plans in Washington I noticed in Kaiser's plan brochure that they offer two plans that can only be purchased directly through them and not through the marketplace ("Core Silver HSA" and "Flex Silver HD"). It's not explained in the brochure why they choose not to offer those two plans through the marketplace. They seem to cover the same range of services but with different financial parameters. The premiums for both off-exchange plans are in between the premiums for their on-exchange bronze plans and their on-exchange silver plans.

[pmac]

@seattlecyclone I'm in Texas, but that's similar to what I found with Blue Cross Blue Shield. The on-exchange (ACA compliant) and off exchange (non-ACA compliant) have very similar monthly premiums.

I was hoping the off exchange, non-ACA compliant would be cheaper in terms of monthly premiums since it didn't have to have the same standards (cover pre-existing, no lifetime max, mental health and substance abuse coverage), but it wasn't that much different.

Kaiser is not offered in Texas.

[katsiki]

Have you looked into groups that cater to small business owners or independent contractors?  I read about and bookmarked this one a while back but have NO experience with them.

https://www.goco.io/

Depending on your line of work, there may be better options.. like a trade group.

[pmac]

@katsiki Thanks, I'll look into that. We have no employees, which makes us ineligible for some of the small business health plans.

[pmac]

More frustrations....

Short term plans don't cover a lot of medical bills if they involve things like snow skiing, scuba diving, etc...


Plus, the short-term plans don't cover prescription drugs....

[Altons Bobs]

@seattlecyclone I'm in Texas, but that's similar to what I found with Blue Cross Blue Shield. The on-exchange (ACA compliant) and off exchange (non-ACA compliant) have very similar monthly premiums.

I was hoping the off exchange, non-ACA compliant would be cheaper in terms of monthly premiums since it didn't have to have the same standards (cover pre-existing, no lifetime max, mental health and substance abuse coverage), but it wasn't that much different.

Kaiser is not offered in Texas.

If you're looking for a real medical plan, regardless if it's on or off exchange, they are all ACA compliant. BCBS of TX does not sell any non-ACA compliant plans. Your best bet is BCBS of TX with their off-Marketplace HSA individual plan. It is ACA compliant, you cannot buy non-ACA compliant plans from BCBS of TX at all, they don't sell any.

[Cranky]

More frustrations....

Short term plans don't cover a lot of medical bills if they involve things like snow skiing, scuba diving, etc...


Plus, the short-term plans don't cover prescription drugs....

I guess that’s why they’re cheap.

[pmac]

@Altons Bobs ok, that makes more sense. I'd like to stick with BCBS since they have a big network.

What's stopping people from getting no health insurance since the penalty is gone, then jumping back on health insurance since the requirement to cover pre-existing conditions is still in place????

You can get rid of the penalty for not having health insurance, but it's destined to fail if you're also requiring health insurance companies to cover people with pre-existing conditions. 



Maybe that was the whole idea in the first place. Crash the health system so the government is "forced" to step in and help everybody.

[bacchi]

@Altons Bobs ok, that makes more sense. I'd like to stick with BCBS since they have a big network.

What's stopping people from getting no health insurance since the penalty is gone, then jumping back on health insurance since the requirement to cover pre-existing conditions is still in place????

You can get rid of the penalty for not having health insurance, but it's destined to fail if you're also requiring health insurance companies to cover people with pre-existing conditions. 



Maybe that was the whole idea in the first place. Crash the health system so the government is "forced" to step in and help everybody.

ACA plans run from Jan-Dec unless there's a qualifying event, like a job loss or move.

So, yeah, if you get diagnosed with cancer in February, you can quit your job to get insurance. If you need the job to pay the medical bills, and don't have savings, you'll just have to delay treatment until the next year.

[pmac]

@bacchi or you could just move to a different state right? Move to a state with better cancer treatment centers....

Not really sure you are going to want to keep working if you get cancer.

[Freedom2016]

@bacchi or you could just move to a different state right? Move to a state with better cancer treatment centers....

Not really sure you are going to want to keep working if you get cancer.

I had cancer. I kept working.

[pmac]

@Freedom2016 that's amazing. Because you wanted to or because you had to?

Also, how did your health insurance cover your cancer?

[Freedom2016]

@Freedom2016 that's amazing. Because you wanted to or because you had to?

Also, how did your health insurance cover your cancer?

Some of both. There are lots of types and degrees of cancer and I can't help but wonder if you're imagining late stage terminal diagnoses only. There's plenty of early stage cancer that still requires thousands of dollars of treatment.

How did insurance cover it? Well it was pre-ACA and we had good coverage through DH's workplace. They had an added benefit that they reimbursed the in-patient stay deductible charged by the ins company - which in our case meant we were reimbursed $1000.

But I will NEVER skip health insurance and don't understand those that do. I was 36 when I was diagnosed and was perfectly healthy - I had recently run a marathon.