this is the frustrating thing about all of these plans - I have no idea how to evaluate them appropriately. Im 30 and the wife is 27. Id imagine we will have a kid in about 2 years, so i guess we should have that on the horizon?
You'll be making some trade-offs, usually. I am a fed employee and I have a HDHP plan with an HSA (Mail Handler's). The coverage for the HDHP plans is similar (sometimes better) than Blue Cross after you meet the deductible. When I last evaluated it, the difference in premiums between the Blue Cross plan and my MHBP (along with the premium "pass through", i.e. the money that they contribute to your HSA) made MHBP cheaper even if I hit the deductible for one person each year. If I had multiple sick people in my family, or a chronic condition, I'd switch the following year to Blue Cross or another full coverage plan.
Over the past few years I've gotten a nice tax break on ~5-6k of money that I've contributed to my HSA, and I've left that money in the HSA and invested it. I keep a spreadsheet with all of our medical expenses and documentation, and eventually I'll withdraw a lot of that money tax free. See the Mad Fientist's article on the HSA as the "ultimate retirement account".
