# High Deductible Health Plans....



## Chuck Smith (Feb 22, 2005)

http://www.msn.com/en-us/money/healthca ... id=DELLDHP

Is a good read and another issue facing everyone.

Now I think this article is wrong to a certain extent. They say that this lady can't get "medicine" because of the deductible being so high. Well 90% of the insurance plans have co-pay on medicine. Now it could be a 50/50 or what ever. But most have co-pay on medicines. That is if they are approved by the company.

But anyway it shows what the High deductible plans pushed by the ACA and others said would be good. It is still making people not use the insurance. It is also pushing the burden onto the policy holders or employees. Remember I was talking about this when companies were forced to produce insurance for people if they had over 100 employees or what ever it is. Now you have your employer making decisions for you. Which can be good.... or bad.


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## southdakbearfan (Oct 11, 2004)

We have both a high deductible and low deductible plan at my work.

If you take the time to pencil it out the high deductible plan is the way to go. Even if you have something serious go wrong the out of pocket max is lower in our system as you have no separate deductible of prescriptions with the high deductible plan. There is no copay but there are negotiated prices and tiers on prescriptions but basically the out of pocket costs on prescriptions are about the same but in the high deductible plan they count towards the out of pocket max and overall deductible, in the low deductible plan there is a separate prescription deductible and it does not count towards the out of pocket max. They also give us 1,000 bucks to put in our hsa for choosing the high deductible. Our prescriptions for maintenance drugs, like generic singulair or cholesterol meds that are taken daily are free, as insurance has figured out that if people stay on these it cuts down on much more costly hospital issues. I also highly recommend the goodrx app to check prices in the dr's office as there are many alternatives to most drugs with significant cost difference.

The difference in cost is about 400 dollars a month. I take the difference between the cost of the two plans and put it in my HSA account which lowers my taxable income. Between the money they give us, the difference in cost and the money saved in taxes that gets me past the deductible at which point its a 75/25 split. HSA money carries over year to year and most years we don't spend it so we have a medical slush fund now after 3 years in excess of our family out of pocket max in case of serious issues and it keeps growing as we keep putting in every year and can take it with us when I retire.

Not every system is the same by any means though, but people need to really read about what their system covers and research drug costs along with talking to their doctor. Systems also change year to year, especially on the prescription end as to what is covered or a preferred drug for treatment of certain conditions.


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## Chuck Smith (Feb 22, 2005)

SD....

Your company is doing it right with the HSA and offering good plans. Plus you are doing it right with putting money into your HSA. :beer: :thumb:

But most people would take that $400 savings and just go buy stuff. Which again is their choice. Plus with your HSA if you never us it and once you "retire" you can draw that money TAX FREE or use it to pay for your medicar supliments and what not. Just make sure you don't go over the max limits on them for contributions and some cap out on what you can have in them.

But my whole tax is the high deductible plans offered by the ACA isn't what you are dealing with. Like I have mentioned before.... I was forced into a high deductible plan because BCBS was about to leave MN and cancel all of their old plans. Well they came back in only with High Deductible plans (for people who are self employed or not on a company plan). So I went from a $1500 deductible to a $6500 deductible. So right off the bat I am down $5000 before they pay one cent. Well then my premium sky rocketed to $600 per month instead of $200. So that is $7200 a year plus a $5000 deductible.... My out of pocket expense was roughly $4000 before the ACA and now it went to $12200!!! Now since Trump took over and took out some stuff my insurance has dropped some in premium.... but I take no meds or need anything like that. So I don't use any of my co pay on medicine. I do use some of it on doctors visits but with my plan they don't kick in until I spend $1000 of my own money then it is a 50/50 until my deductible is reached on Doctor visits. Which you will never hit unless you are sick. So again... my plan is "unaffordable".... but the ACA was supposed to make health insurance "affordable"..... uke:

But again... if you look back at all of my posts on the ACA or even before the bill when we debated it. You can see I saw all of this coming.

I give credit your company is doing something good to help with the issues I face... ie: having to pay over $12000 out of pocket before insurance kicks in. You have the HSA to help out... btw... I invested in one as well just so my deductible and then some is covered incase I ever need it. :bop:


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