California health
insurance
- Health
Savings Accounts and California health
Finding the Best HSA Values On The California Health
Insurance Market
HSA plans make sense if
you plan on funding the account (detail below)
HSA plans will continue to be offered after
Health Reform (detail below)
Preventative is now covered prior to the
deductible
Interest and investment is generally tax
deferred and you can pay eligible expenses pre-tax
We've been fans of the HSA or Health Savings Account
health plans in California since they we're called MSA's and
for a very good reason. They saved 1000's of our clients
1000's of dollars. It's that simple. So what is an HSA
health plan and what is their future in light of the Health
Reform requirements? First, let's break down what the HSA is
and how it can be beneficial. We'll also discuss if it's
still the great savings it has been over the past decade and
what's required to really make it make sense. So let's get
started on the HSA.
You can always run your quote here:

What is an HSA plan and what are the advantages?
Very
simply, the HSA generally refers to two separate parts.
The first is an underlying high deductible health
insurance plan. Most of the carriers offer these HSA
qualified plans and you'll see the "HSA" type next to
these plans when running your California health
insurance quote for both the individual/family or Group
market. Not any high deductible plan will do so make
sure to look for the HSA sign. As a side note, almost
all the HSA plans currently use the PPO network of
doctors aside from Kaiser. With HSA plans, all
benefits aside from preventative benefits are subject to
the main deductible. This is the biggest
difference in core health plan benefits between the HSA
qualified plans and other PPO high deductible plans and
usually, the main effect is for office visits (no copays
or co-insurance) and prescription (no copays). Office
visits (except for preventative) and prescriptions will
be subject to the main deductible. Otherwise, it's a
high deductible (should be lower cost) PPO health plan.
So far, pretty straight forward.
The tax-favored HSA account is really the key
The second piece is where HSA's differ and really, it's
where the potential cost savings can be found now that the
health plan rates are now pretty comparable with other high
deductible PPO plans. If you are on a qualified HSA health
plan, you may be able to fund a certain amount (indexed to
go up each year with family plans allowing roughly double of
an individual) into a separate tax-favored checking account.
You may be able to write this money off at tax time and
here's the bonus...you can use these pre-tax funds to pay
for eligible medical and dental bills with no tax
implication. As an example, the maximum yearly contribution
is approximately $6K and for an individual, it's $3K. Let's
look at the individual situation. If you fund the full
amount each year (it's up to you how much you fund), and
your federal tax rate is 30%, that's $900 (30% of $3000) of
real after tax savings. Divide this by 12 and we can say
that your premium savings is roughly $80/monthly. Once you
take this into account against other PPO plans, the HSA
starts to look real competitive. It used to be that the core
HSA health plans were priced much better than other PPO
plans but that's not the case any more. You really need the
tax savings to make the numbers work unless....
California
HSA eligible health plans
Today, HSA health plans offer some of the lowest true max
out of pockets on the market. What does this mean? Most PPO
plans have a deductible and then you pay a percentage
(co-insurance) until you hit a separate max out of pocket
(may or may not include the deductible depending on
plan/carrier).
If you get a really big medical bill, the real out
of pocket might by $7000-$9000 on mid-priced PPO plans.
That's a big number. Many of the popular HSA plans today
make the deductible and the max out of pocket the same
number. This means you may have a cap of $4K or $6K on these
plans. For some California health care shoppers, that out of
pocket cap is more important than office copays and
prescription copays. This low cap is a key driver for many
HSA applicants. The tax savings is a bonus for these people.
A few notes.
Health insurance premiums cannot be paid from the HSA
account. The HSA accounts are not use it or lose it. The
amounts grow each year and interest and investment are
tax-deferred. Most large banks or investment houses now
administer HSA accounts with debit cards and various
investment options. Wells Fargo has been a strong provider
of the actual HSA accounts. The allowed expenses are
actually extensive and follow the Federal list of allowable
medical expenses. You can run your instant quote below
(individual or group) for all California health plans
including HSA and you can even segregate just the HSA
eligible plans with a check box. This is a good summary
introduction to the world of HSA's but we're happy to walk
you through them as it pertains to your situation. We also
have analyzed current best options for the HSA.
You can access the online application here:

Best HSA Values on the current market
We still have HSA compatible plans on the market:
California Individual and Family Market. Look at
the Bronze HSA plans and then choose according to network
and pricing. The benefits are standardized now so
doctor choice and pricing rules. We can also see if
you qualify for a tax credit. You can quote
Individual Family
HSA plans here.
California Small Group Market. The group market
is a little tougher since there are so many carriers and HSA
plans available. It really comes down to a company's
demographics (age, area). Run your
group HSA quote
and compare Health Net, Shield, and Anthem which are usually
strongest for the HSA plans in terms of pricing and
benefits.
Related Pages:
Health Reform HSA options in California
Current California HSA individual family health plans
Individual deductibles versus family cumulative
deductibles for HSA in California
Do HSA Funds Roll
Over?
You can run your
HSA Health Plan Quote
here to view rates and plans side by side from the major
carriers...Free.
We have helped 1000's of Californians find
the best priced plan that matches their
doctor/hospital needs.
Call us at 800-320-6269. Our services are
Free!
This network selection is only one aspect of
the decision but it's never been more important
than now.
Related Page:
Top Ten Tips to Compare Covered California Plans
- and SAVE