High Deductible Health Plans and HSA's...is it worth it any more?

[pmac]

I remember when I had my first High Deductible Health Plan (HDHP) the monthly premiums were incredibly low, around $120/month back in 2008.

Now, the premiums are almost $400/month with very limited options to choose from.

Are these HDHP even worth it any more since the main reason I'm getting them is to contribute to my HSA?

Or am I better off just going with a lower monthly premium insurance that doesn't qualify as an HDHP and saving the difference and putting it in a taxable investment account?



Back in the day these plans were good deals but now the premiums are out of control and the maximum yearly contribution to the HSA has not kept up with the increase in monthly premiums.

My current HSA balance is almost $100K, so I'd love to keep this fund going, but the costs of the health insurance premiums are just so high.

[Aggie1999]

Premiums out of control and at least for my employer sponsored plan the deductibles keep going up and the company added HSA contribution keeps going down. My yearly premiums, including company contribution, for a single person is ~$5,900. Deductible before insurance pays one cent is $3,000. Then insurance pays 80% until I reach $6,000 out of pocket. Then insurance pays 100%. So insurance is ~$9k in profit before they start paying a dime. Ridiculous. Bring on universal health care.

[terran]

You've just got to compare it to your other available options. Our workplace provided HSA plan has much lower premiums than other options and a generous employer contribution, so it's definitely worth it for us, but I would have a hard time seeing how it would make sense for us to pay higher premiums for an HSA plan. I would imagine your cheaper options probably don't have terribly good coverage in addition to not being HSA eligible?

[MaaS]

IMO, no. For me, an ACA HSA eligible plan was going to run about $435 (young and single).  My other ACA option was $256/month with a $1000 higher deductible, which is too high to qualify for an HSA.  I decided to take the latter and keep the $2148 annual difference. 

The fact that an ACA plan has a deductible that's TOO HIGH for an HSA account is unbelievable incompetence by both parties.

[Mississippi Mudstache]

Still worth it for us by a wide margin, because we hit our OOP max every single year. Our insurance premiums (family plan) are $15,000/year including employer contributions, and our OOP max is $10,000/year. So healthcare costs us $25,000/year, far outpacing any other expense including housing.

Bottom line is that you have to do the math for your own situation to figure out if it's a net benefit for you. If you share information regarding the costs of premiums, deductibles, OOP max, and typical healthcare costs for yourself, then we can help you with the math if you can't do it yourself. Also, is your HSA contribution payroll-deducted? Because that saves you an extra ~$500/year in FICA.

One final note: an HSA-compatible plan and a HDHP are not necessarily the same thing. My employer offers a HDHP that is not HSA-compatible because the OOP max is too high. So we go through my wife's employer instead. You need to break out the spreadsheets.

[pmac]

Bottom line is that you have to do the math for your own situation to figure out if it's a net benefit for you. If you share information regarding the costs of premiums, deductibles, OOP max, and typical healthcare costs for yourself, then we can help you with the math if you can't do it yourself. Also, is your HSA contribution payroll-deducted? Because that saves you an extra ~$500/year in FICA.

2 adults, mid 30's, self employed.

Monthly premium $695/month,

DEDUCTIBLE PER FAMILY   $12000.00 CalendarYear
DEDUCTIBLE PER INDIVIDUAL   $6000.00 CalendarYear

OUT OF POCKET PER FAMILY   $13300.00 CalendarYear
OUT OF POCKET PER INDIVIDUAL   $6650.00 CalendarYear

Pretty much 0 medical expenses each year besides dental visits, 2 or 3 chiropractic visits.