Family of 3 - HDHP + HMO + upcoming pregnancy

[bryan995]

Open enrollment time.
Family of 3, 1 year old child.

Wife and I both have access to health insurance through work.

Last year we opted for a HMO family plan through my work (due to the pending pregnancy/delivery).
There is a potential for another pregnancy/delivery in 2019, so trying to optimize.

Thoughts on choosing a HDHP + HSA for myself and child (through my employer) and a separate HMO for my wife (through her work)?

HMO for spouse seems beneficial due to potential for high medical costs from the pregnancy and delivery. Her individual premium would be low. Plus with the ‘family’ HDHP HSA we ahould still be able to max out contributions, no?

Others in a similar situation ?

[MDM]

HMO for spouse seems beneficial due to potential for high medical costs from the pregnancy and delivery. Her individual premium would be low. Plus with the ‘family’ HDHP HSA we ahould still be able to max out contributions, no?

Yes, if the HMO provides no coverage at all to you, and your wife does not participate in a medical FSA that would allow reimbursement for your expenses, whether you actually get reimbursed or not.

[seattlecyclone]

Also look into the possibility of covering your wife under two separate workplace plans. I wrote a long post about our experience with this here. In our case, the extra premiums to insure my wife under a second plan retroactive to the birth date were much lower than the out-of-pocket medical bills we avoided through doing this. Your mileage will definitely vary.

[Lucky Recardito]

Plus with the ‘family’ HDHP HSA we ahould still be able to max out contributions, no?

Yes to this (note MDM's clarification as well); since you'd have family coverage (covering a child) you'd be able to contribute the full $7K family max in 2019.

Also worth keeping in mind: under this set-up, you can still use the HSA to pay for your wife's medical expenses (if you want to; obviously this is not required if you prefer to pay medical costs out-of-pocket and let HSA money grow). While contribution limits are all about what type of medical coverage you have, an HSA can be used for the medical expenses of anyone in your tax household (even if they're not covered under the HSA-eligible health plan).

[bryan995]

Thanks for the help all!

Turns out my wife only has HSA or HRA plans available through her work, and they are not all that attractive compared to just changing my benefits to full family coverage.

So for now, we will use my insurance to cover the entire family on the HDHP + HSA.

One follow up question.
With a potential pregnancy looming, the hospital indemnity plan looks to be beneficial.
Any idea if one can double dip on this?

Can I cover wife via my plan ($10/mo), and also have her buy a separate HI plan through her employer ($10/mo).