How Health Savings Accounts Reduce Medical Expenses And Help You

How Health Savings Accounts Reduce Medical Expenses And Help You Avoid Metabolic Syndrome

The most common set of diseases facing Americans moving into their 40’s and beyond has been termed “metabolic syndrome”. Metabolic syndrome is a collection of disease symptoms that tend to occur together. These are excess body fat around your waist, high blood pressure, high LDL cholesterol, low HDL cholesterol, elevated triglyceride levels, and high fasting blood sugar.

As more Americans are carrying high-deductible health plans along with health savings accounts, many say they are beginning to pay more attention to their health. Health savings accounts (HSAs) allow you to put aside pre-tax money to be used for future medical expenses. Because deposits grow tax-deferred and are not taxed for medical withdrawals, if you fund your account and stay healthy, you could have hundreds of thousands of dollars in your HSA by the time you retire.

The fundamental metabolic disturbance that seems to be common in almost all people who have metabolic syndrome is insulin resistance. Insulin is a hormone that your body uses to move the carbohydrate that you eat into your cells. If you are insulin resistant, your cells don’t respond well to insulin, and your pancreas has to produce higher amounts in order to keep your blood sugar from going too high. (Once your pancreas is no longer able to keep up with this increased demand, you become diabetic.) If you are insulin sensitive, your body is responding well to smaller amounts of insulin.

Fortunately, metabolic syndrome is almost entirely preventable. Avoid it, and you’ll greatly increase your chances of also avoiding cardiovascular disease, breast cancer, colon cancer, prostate cancer, stroke, and many other serious conditions. Though all the mechanisms behind the metabolic syndrome have not been worked out, the evidence is strong that combinations of several lifestyle strategies are very effective in preventing this condition.

Exercise

Exercising does more than just burn calories or build muscle. One of the most profound benefits of exercise is its effect on insulin sensitivity. When insulin is released in response to carbohydrate ingestion, glucose transporters come to the surface of the cell in order to carry the glucose into the cell. In muscles and fat cells this transporter is called Glut-4. Exercise itself helps Glut-4 to move through the cell membrane to the surface of your muscle cell, causing these cells to be much more insulin sensitive. Even a single bout of exercise will cause your muscles to respond more effectively to insulin.

Eat Low-Glycemic Foods

The glycemic index is a measure of how quickly a food raises our blood sugar. The high-glycemic carbohydrates in the American diet are primarily the “white foods” (bread, pasta, rice, white potatoes, and sugar). These foods cause many of the changes associated with metabolic syndrome, including lower HDL levels, and higher triglycerides. When a person eats these foods year after year, insulin levels remain chronically high. The result is that eventually the cells become less responsive to the insulin, in turn leading to increased risk of obesity, hypertension, heart disease, diabetes, and premature death. Low-glycemic carbohydrates include most fruits and vegetables. Eating a diet that limits or avoids high-glycemic grains, potatoes, and sugars, and includes more low-glycemic fruits and vegetables, fish, and lean meat can dramatically improve your insulin sensitivity.

Eat the Right Fat

We’ve talked in previous issues about the seemingly miraculous health benefits of fish oil. Fish oil improves insulin sensitivity. Eskimos, who consume high quantities of fish oil, rarely experience diabetes, even though they are often overweight. Though the mechanism by which fish oil works isn’t yet understood, many researchers believe that fish oil makes the cell membrane more “fluid”, enabling the Glut-4 transporters to more easily move to the surface of the cell in response to insulin. Everyone who does not eat fish on a regular basis should consider taking a high-quality fish oil.

Saturated fats and trans-fats, in contrast, make the cell membrane more stiff and inflexible, and also reduce insulin sensitivity. Saturated fats are found primarily in beef, pork, and dairy products and trans-fats are found in processed foods. Saturated fats should be minimized, and trans-fats should ideally be completely eliminated from your diet.

Eat Enough Protein

If you’re avoiding starches, you’ll need to replace those calories with something else – that should be lean protein. Protein satisfies your appetite more than any other macronutrient, it increases metabolism, and it will contribute to weight loss. The best proteins are lean meats like turkey breast and chicken breast, lean beef, fish, and eggs. And if you are overweight, nothing will improve your insulin sensitivity faster than losing some weight. In fact, weight loss significantly improves all aspects of metabolic syndrome. Eat the right foods, and your body will tend to normalize at the right weight without you having to count calories or starve yourself.

Take Action

Remember, just reading an article has never made anyone healthier. Though there are drugs available to treat some of the symptoms, doctors have no pharmaceutical cure for metabolic syndrome, and almost all individuals become more insulin resistant as they age. It is the lifestyle choices and the actions that you take today to improve your insulin sensitivity that will have a powerful impact on the length and quality of your life.

The characteristic that many people like about HSAs is that they reward those who take responsibility for themselves. By putting aside money to pay for future medical expenses, you are being a responsible citizen, and deserve the tax benefits that an HSA offers. Make the same investment in your health, and you’ll not only have the good health to enjoy your retirement, but you’ll also have plenty of money in the bank as well.

Tags: Breast Cancer, Cancer Colon, Cancer Prostate, Colon Cancer, Excess Body, Fasting Blood Sugar, Health Health, Health Savings Accounts, High Blood Pressure, High Deductible Health, High Fasting Blood Sugar, Hsa, Insulin Resistance, Insulin Resistant, Lifestyle Strategies, Low Hdl Cholesterol, Medical Expenses, Metabolic Syndrome, Prostate Cancer, Tax Money

Related posts

• Heath Savings Accounts (HSAs) Mean Big Tax Savings (0)
• Health Savings Accounts Put You in Control of Your Healthcare (0)
• Can Health Savings Accounts Bring Down High Healthcare Costs? (0)
• 7 Things You Should Know About Health Savings Account Plans (0)
• Unplanned Medical Bills – How A Personal Debt Consolidation Loan (0)

Heath Savings Accounts (HSAs) Mean Big Tax Savings

Concerned about the high cost of healthcare? Worried that your insurance doesnt cover all your costs? Fortunately, a partial solution may be just around the corner. Since January 2004, taxpayers have had a tax savings tool called Health Savings Accounts, or HSAs. These HSAs may solve many of your healthcare cost problems.

How an HSA Works

In a nutshell, HSAs work like this. You buy a specific type of major medical, or catastrophic coverage, insurance called a High Deductible Health Plan. (This special HSA-compatible insurance is also known by the acronym HDHP.) Then, you annually contribute up to roughly $5,100 for a family and up to $2,600 for an individual–to a special health savings account. (Note that slightly higher deductions are available to taxpayers over the age of 55. Also, annual deductions are indexed for inflation.)

How You Save Taxes with HSAs

HSAs work because you get a tax deduction for the money you contribute to the health savings account. However, as long you spend the money in the account for eligible healthcare expensespretty much anything reasonableyou aren’t taxed when you withdraw the money. Note that HSAs deductions are not limited by taxpayer incomes.

In effect, the HSA makes all or most of your uncovered healthcare expenses fully deductible. This is a big deal because for most people, healthcare expenses are not deductible.

Just to put the value of an HSA into perspective, a family can save from $500 to as much as $1750 annually in income taxes by using one of these accounts. The final savings, predictably, depend on family income and the state where the family lives.

One other thing. Dont confuse HSAs with the old style Flexible Spending Accounts, or FSAs. With FSAs, you lost the money you didnt spend by the end of the year. With HSAs, you dont lose the money. The unused balance just carries forward to the next year.

Arent Medical Expenses a Tax Deduction Anyway?

No, not really. For most people medical expenses are not a tax deduction. Heres why. Healthcare expenses do count as an itemized deduction for people who dont use the standard deduction. However, only the portions of ones healthcare costs that exceed 7.5% of adjusted gross income get deducted. That means that most people never get to use their healthcare costs as tax deductions because their healthcare costs dont cross the 7.5% threshold.

Another Benefit: HSAs May Also Save Premiums

HSAs sometimes produce another economic benefit. The HDHP insurance itself may save people money because they buy less insurance. This is especially true for people who arent already using major medical insurance.

How to Set Up a Health Savings Account

HSA accounts aren’t difficult to set up. Essentially, you do just two things. (1) Get medical insurance that qualifies as an HDHP, and (2) Open an HSA account with a bank that offers HSAs. Your current medical insurance provider is a good place to start your search for HDHP insurance. You can also check with your states Blue Cross or Blue Shield insurer.

Three Warnings about HSAs

For what it’s worth, I am now using an HSA myself. (I got my HDHP from Premera Blue Cross and use an HSA account from HSA Bank.) But let me also share three caveats: First, obviously, you never want to cancel one insurance policy until you’re sure you have a replacement policy. Second, you do need to be careful about the fees associated with the HSA “bank account,” so shop around. Third, if you withdraw money from an HSA for something other than a valid medical expense, the withdrawal is taxable and subject to a 10% penalty.

Tags: Catastrophic Coverage, Cost Of Healthcare, Coverage Insurance, Flexible Spending Accounts, Fsas, Health Savings Accounts, Healthcare Expenses, High Deductible Health, High Deductible Health Plan, Hsa, Income Taxes, Incomes, Medical Expenses, Money Note, Nutshell, Partial Solution, Savings Tool, Special Health, Tax Deduction, Unused Balance

Related posts

• How Health Savings Accounts Reduce Medical Expenses And Help You (0)
• Health Savings Accounts Put You in Control of Your Healthcare (0)
• 7 Things You Should Know About Health Savings Account Plans (0)
• Can Health Savings Accounts Bring Down High Healthcare Costs? (0)
• Benefits Of A Health Savings Account (0)

Health Savings Accounts Put You in Control of Your Healthcare

Health Savings Accounts Put You in Control of Your Healthcare

As Health Savings Accounts grow in popularity, there is growing fear among those who want to nationalize healthcare that they will not be able to put the cat back in the bag. There are already over 3 million HSA owners, and by 2010, the Treasury Department estimates as many as 45 million Americans will be covered by HSA plans. They will have billions of dollars invested to cover future medical expenses, and by then it will be politically impossible to take that benefit away.

If you currently have a high-deductible health insurance plan, you can invest tax-free money in a Health Savings Account. You get to choose the type of investment anything from savings accounts or money market funds, to a full brokerage house. If you invest wisely, you could have well over $500,000 in the account when you retire. You will be able to use that money to pay for your healthcare in whatever way you please, tax free. You can go to the best surgeons, or the least expensive doc-in-a-box. If you decide to treat a condition with acupuncture, homeopathy, or psychic healers, you can do that too. Whoever offers you the service you want with the best combination of quality and price should get your business. And since you are the one paying, it will be completely your choice. You have healthcare freedom.

If proponents of a single-payer system were to ever have their way, you would be at the mercy of a government bureaucrat when it comes to your healthcare. To see what this may look like, all one has to do is look at the state of health care in Canada, England, New Zealand, and the parts of Europe that have not yet abandoned single-payer systems.

Proponents of a single-payer system tend to point to Canada or England as countries that cover all their citizens with quality healthcare, while spending less money per person than the U.S. But if we look a little more closely, we see that these publicly financed health insurance systems are breaking down, the quality is low, and the costs can be quite high. Here’s what Canadians have to deal with if they need medical care:

Long waits. Hundreds of Canadians go to Detroit and other U.S. cities every year for procedures like CAT scans, which they can obtain treatment in a matter of days. In Canada, the wait is typically six months. Currently 876,000 Canadians are on waiting lists for medical procedures.

Difficulty in getting life-enhancing procedures done. If a Canadian is having a heart attack, they will be treated right then. But if the surgery is considered “elective” (meaning that possible death is not eminent), the wait could be months or years. Average wait for cataract removal is 18 months. Average wait for a knee replacement is one year.

Increased risk of dieing. The average Canadian waits eight weeks to see a specialist, and another nine weeks before getting treated. This is even the case with conditions that are likely to get much worse if there is any delay in treatment. For example, the median time for a mastectomy is 14 weeks, enough time for the cancer to spread to other parts of the body. In fact, 28% of those diagnosed with breast cancer in Canada die from it, while the mortality ratio in the U.S. is only 25%.

Things don’t look any better across the ocean. Each year the British National Health Service cancels 410,000 surgeries because of resource shortages. According to the London Sunday Times, there are currently over 1 million Brits awaiting elective surgery. Thomas Cook, a British travel agency, is even considering offering “sun-and-surgery” packaged trips to Indian hospitals for British citizens fed up with low standards and long waiting times for surgery.

The British and Canadian governments have the power to make healthcare “free”, but they are unable to control its costs. So the costs become longer (and potentially fatal) delays, and fewer innovations.

Its not surprising when you think about what is happening. Universal health insurance systems always encourage over-consumption by patients, and such over-consumption always leads to financial crises. The result is inevitably broken promises about universal access and quality care. Because there are always limited resources, single-payer systems tend to overspend on primary care for the healthy, while denying more expensive specialist care to those with serious medical problems. This is because most people (voters) are healthy most of the time, and the sick and dieing are less likely to be able to organize into a political force.

What makes the United States such a great country is the “freedoms” we enjoy. Though our freedoms seem to be constantly under attack, there is still no nation in the world that has the freedom of the press, freedom of religion, freedom of association, or the free markets that we have in the United States. As anyone who understands even a smidgen of economics knows, free markets encourage competition and innovation, which lead to lower prices and better quality.

Though the U.S. system of health care can not really be considered a “free-market”, it is certainly much more free than any single payer system. Some of the benefits we see as a result of our current healthcare system include:

U.S. medicine produces the best outcomes for virtually every patient, from premature babies to elderly cancer patients.
American companies are the chief source worldwide of new treatments and procedures which each year are used to save millions of lives.
U.S. medical training and research facilities are the best in the world.

Though Canadians might have to wait a year or two for hip replacement surgery, they can get the same operation done on their dog in less than a week. This is because veterinarians are competing for that business, finding innovative ways to deliver service more quickly and less expensively. Another example is laser eye surgery, a procedure that is rarely covered by insurance, so laser eye surgeons must compete on the basis of cost and quality. While costs for most medical procedures have been going up every year, the cost for this procedure has dropped by 80% over the past decade.

Unfortunately, U.S. healthcare policies still tend to limit competition, restrict consumer’s freedom to choose, and discourage consumers from shopping for value. Thus, there are too few choices and there has been little attention paid to price and quality of service. The answer is clearly not more government intervention, but instead letting competition and the power of the marketplace drive down prices and increase quality and access to care.

Health Savings Accounts are the Solution

There is increasing recognition that third-party health insurance payers are actually a major cause of escalating medical costs and the decline in the quality of service. The increasing adoption of HSA plans has already begun to cause greater transparency and competition in the medical marketplace. There are now physicians available by phone, medical kiosks setting up in malls, doctors that accept only cash (and who charge significantly less), and others competing directly for the consumer’s healthcare dollar.

Don’t be fooled by the politicians who advocate a single-payer system, claiming their only concern is the uninsured. If a single body (such as a government bureaucracy) controls healthcare, they control one seventh of the national economy. And everywhere in the world that central control of the economy has been tried, it has been a colossal failure.

As public policy reforms centered on individual choice continue to gain wider footholds, the result will be greater prosperity, greater choice, and a better value for all. The culture of dependence and entitlement will begin to fade, as millions of individuals demand further policy reforms that will reinstate the values of freedom and personal responsibility that helped establish this great nation.

As more consumers turn to health savings accounts, the market will respond. Innovative providers will begin to compete more on price and quality of service, and those that provide the best value will get wealthy doing so. And all consumers will benefit.

Tags: Brokerage House, Canada England, Deductible Health Insurance, Free Money, Government Bureaucrat, Health Care In Canada, Health Insurance, Health Insurance Plan, Health Savings Accounts, High Deductible Health, High Deductible Health Insurance, High Deductible Health Insurance Plan, Homeopathy, Medical Expenses, Money Market Funds, Proponents, Psychic Healers, Quality Healthcare, Single Payer System, Treasury Department

Related posts

• Can Health Savings Accounts Bring Down High Healthcare Costs? (0)
• How Health Savings Accounts Reduce Medical Expenses And Help You (0)
• Heath Savings Accounts (HSAs) Mean Big Tax Savings (0)
• 7 Things You Should Know About Health Savings Account Plans (0)
• Benefits Of A Health Savings Account (0)

Facing Medical Bills You Hadnt Planned On? A Debt Consolidation

Facing Medical Bills You Hadnt Planned On? A Debt Consolidation Loan Online Can Help

An unexpected car accident or heart attack is stressful enough in itself. When you compound that with the medical expenses as a result, the numbers can grow quite scary. Usually a hospital will be willing to work out some sort of plan with you so that you do not have to pay the entire expense immediately, yet this is not always enough. Sometimes the amount theyre asking you to pay in installments is more than you can afford. After all, with the medical problem, the every day expenses did not disappear. There is still the mortgage to pay, utilities, cell phone, food, and any other monthly expenses you may have. In order to make this expense not the one to cause you to file bankruptcy, a debt consolidation loan online can be just what you need to get you through this time of crisis both financially and for your own peace of mind.

Any unsecured debts that you pay monthly can be condensed into a debt consolidation loan online. This can include the medical expenses incurred. Rather than having to pay according to the timeline of what the hospital is asking, or having to pay everything immediately as some hospitals will demand you do a debt consolidation loan online can take that amount and break it into affordable payments that you can pay over time. The hospital will be satisfied because your debt to them will be satisfied and the services that they provided will be paid for. You will be able to continue life as usual and pay off this outstanding debt along a timeline that you can live with.

Unlike other credit, a debt consolidation loan online will not charge outrageous amounts of interest. If you paid those medical expenses by credit card, you would end up paying enormous interest rates and it would take you quite some time to pay off the debt. With a debt consolidation loan online, your medical debt, along with any other unsecured debt you may have such as credit cards, can be combined into one monthly amount that you can live with. You may even be able to free up some additional monies each month to use however you like. With a consolidation loan, there are certain fixed terms which mean that you will not be paying on this debt for the rest of your life which you may end up doing with a credit card. You will decide how long youd like the term of the loan to be and your payments will be adjusted accordingly. If you can afford to pay a little more monthly, you may be able to be free of your debt in three to five years. If you need to pay a little less each month the term can be extended. That will be between you and loan officer to decide.

The greatest benefit of loan consolidation in this manner is that this is a very private way to obtain this loan. Getting a debt consolidation loan online only has to be discussed between you, perhaps a spouse, and the loan officer. You will not have to worry about friends and neighbors seeing you sitting at a desk in the bankers office which they will inevitably question you about. This is done all at home and online so you have complete privacy in this matter. This remains your knowledge unless you feel like you want to share it. This is your own road to pay off those medical bills as well as others you may have and keep your finances positive.

Tags: Bankruptcy Loan, Bankruptcy Online, Car Accident, Credit Consolidation, Debt Consolidation Loan, Enormous Interest, File Bankruptcy, Heart Attack, Installments, Medical Bills, Medical Debt, Medical Expenses, Medical Problem, Monthly Expenses, Outrageous Amounts, Peace Of Mind, Phone Food, Timeline, Unsecured Debt, Unsecured Debts

Related posts

• Facing Medical Bills You Hadnt Planned On? A Debt Consolidation (0)
• Get A Debt Consolidation Loan For A Debt Free Life (0)
• Debt to Clear Debt Secured Debt Consolidation Loan (0)
• A Low Interest Debt Consolidation Loan: Take Care Of Your (0)
• Unplanned Medical Bills – How A Personal Debt Consolidation Loan (0)

Unplanned Medical Bills – How A Personal Debt Consolidation Loan

Unplanned Medical Bills – How A Personal Debt Consolidation Loan Can Help Your Finances

A personal debt consolidation loan can be a very effective way to deal with unexpected medical expenses, especially if you are juggling multiple credit cards and struggling to find the payments. By consolidating debt, you can increase your monthly disposable income to cover extra monthly medical expenses or you can increase the amount you are borrowing to cover major medical expenses while keeping your repayments much the same.

A personal debt consolidation loan will have a lower interest rate than most credit cards or consumer credit and will save you a lot of money over the term of the loan, while immediately improving your quality of life and allowing you to meet your obligations.

When shopping for the right personal debt consolidation loan to meet your needs, look for the lowest interest rate and lowest fees available to you. Read the loan contract carefully to see if the lender can increase interest rates and to identify any late payment charges or penalties. This can be a bit confusing for a lay-person. It may well be worth your while to find a professional financial counselor who specializes in debt counseling to help you find the right product. This person can also help you work out a budget to cover all your living costs and include strategies to improve your long term financial position.

Sudden medical expenses can put a lot of pressure on a family. A personal debt consolidation loan can not only alleviate the pressure, it can improve the immediate and long term financial prospects of the family. However, it is important to cancel your credit cards and any lines of credit after they are paid out, to avoid the temptation of using them again and forcing your debt levels back up. Under pressure, most of us will use the credit option and be optimistic that we can pay it off later. We need to remember that we have already tried that, and it didnt work.

Sudden, unexpected medical expenses are usually the result of misfortune in the family either through an accident or an illness. A personal debt consolidation loan can take a lot of stress off the family and the finances as it tries to deal with often difficult circumstances. By using this strategy, you can have some breathing space to focus on your family. Even bill paying is easier, with multiple accounts being replaced with one lower monthly payment.

A personal debt consolidation loan will take the financial pressure off you so that you can focus on what is most important your family!

Tags: Consolidating Debt, Consumer Credit, Credit Cards, Credit Option, Debt Consolidation Loan, Debt Counseling, Debt Levels, Disposable Income, Financial Counselor, Financial Position, Financial Prospects, Lay Person, Loan Contract, Lowest Interest Rate, Medical Bills, Medical Expenses, Payment Charges, Personal Debt Consolidation, Personal Debt Consolidation Loan, Repayments

Related posts

• Help For Single Parents With Too Much Debt – A (0)
• Facing Debt After Your Divorce? A Personal Debt Consolidation Loan (0)
• Debt Management Can Help You (0)
• Debt Consolidation Loan Rate: Where To Start So You Can (0)
• Bring Order To Your Finances With A Personal Debt Consolidation (0)

Facing Medical Bills You Hadnt Planned On? A Debt Consolidation

Facing Medical Bills You Hadnt Planned On? A Debt Consolidation Loan Online Can Help

An unexpected car accident or heart attack is stressful enough in itself. When you compound that with the medical expenses as a result, the numbers can grow quite scary. Usually a hospital will be willing to work out some sort of plan with you so that you do not have to pay the entire expense immediately, yet this is not always enough. Sometimes the amount theyre asking you to pay in installments is more than you can afford. After all, with the medical problem, the every day expenses did not disappear. There is still the mortgage to pay, utilities, cell phone, food, and any other monthly expenses you may have. In order to make this expense not the one to cause you to file bankruptcy, a debt consolidation loan online can be just what you need to get you through this time of crisis both financially and for your own peace of mind.

Any unsecured debts that you pay monthly can be condensed into a debt consolidation loan online. This can include the medical expenses incurred. Rather than having to pay according to the timeline of what the hospital is asking, or having to pay everything immediately as some hospitals will demand you do a debt consolidation loan online can take that amount and break it into affordable payments that you can pay over time. The hospital will be satisfied because your debt to them will be satisfied and the services that they provided will be paid for. You will be able to continue life as usual and pay off this outstanding debt along a timeline that you can live with.

Unlike other credit, a debt consolidation loan online will not charge outrageous amounts of interest. If you paid those medical expenses by credit card, you would end up paying enormous interest rates and it would take you quite some time to pay off the debt. With a debt consolidation loan online, your medical debt, along with any other unsecured debt you may have such as credit cards, can be combined into one monthly amount that you can live with. You may even be able to free up some additional monies each month to use however you like. With a consolidation loan, there are certain fixed terms which mean that you will not be paying on this debt for the rest of your life which you may end up doing with a credit card. You will decide how long youd like the term of the loan to be and your payments will be adjusted accordingly. If you can afford to pay a little more monthly, you may be able to be free of your debt in three to five years. If you need to pay a little less each month the term can be extended. That will be between you and loan officer to decide.

The greatest benefit of loan consolidation in this manner is that this is a very private way to obtain this loan. Getting a debt consolidation loan online only has to be discussed between you, perhaps a spouse, and the loan officer. You will not have to worry about friends and neighbors seeing you sitting at a desk in the bankers office which they will inevitably question you about. This is done all at home and online so you have complete privacy in this matter. This remains your knowledge unless you feel like you want to share it. This is your own road to pay off those medical bills as well as others you may have and keep your finances positive.

Tags: Bankruptcy Loan, Bankruptcy Online, Car Accident, Credit Consolidation, Debt Consolidation Loan, Enormous Interest, File Bankruptcy, Heart Attack, Installments, Medical Bills, Medical Debt, Medical Expenses, Medical Problem, Monthly Expenses, Outrageous Amounts, Peace Of Mind, Phone Food, Timeline, Unsecured Debt, Unsecured Debts

Related posts

• Facing Medical Bills You Hadnt Planned On? A Debt Consolidation (0)
• Get A Debt Consolidation Loan For A Debt Free Life (0)
• Debt to Clear Debt Secured Debt Consolidation Loan (0)
• A Low Interest Debt Consolidation Loan: Take Care Of Your (0)
• Unplanned Medical Bills – How A Personal Debt Consolidation Loan (0)

7 Things You Should Know About Health Savings Account Plans

7 Things You Should Know About Health Savings Account Plans

Health savings accounts (HSAs) are wildly popular. Since their introduction in 2004, approximately 2.5 million Americans have enrolled in these so-called consumer-driven health plans. But, alas, HSA plans are not for everyone.
Here are some pointers to help you consider whether an HSA will benefit you and your family.

1. An HSA plan can cut healthcare costs by an average of 40% for many people.
Nevertheless, some people will not realize any net savings. Those most likely to realize significant savings are people who pay all of their own health insurance premiums, such as the self-employed, who are relatively healthy with few medical expenses.

2. health savings plan restores freedom of choice.
An HSA plan puts individual consumers back in control of their own health care. This also means that each individual must be more responsible for his or her own health care decisions. This approach of self-reliance is not always popular with or appropriate for everyone, especially those who have become comfortable with HMO-type “co-pay” plans.

3. Health savings accounts reduce income taxes.
Every dollar contributed into your HSA account is deducted from your taxable income in the same manner as contributions into a traditional IRA account–regardless of whether you spend it or just save it. Interest and investment earnings in a HSA accumulate tax-deferred, just like a traditional IRA. Unlike an IRA, withdrawals are tax-FREE when used to pay qualifying medical expenses. In many situations, new account holders are able to almost fully fund their HSA with money saved on premiums from a prior, higher priced plan. By stashing all or most of those savings into an HSA, the account holder realizes instant, additional savings in the form of reduced taxes.

4. You must have a properly qualified high health insurance policy in place first before
you can open a health savings account. One of the biggest misconceptions about HSA plans is that any insurance policy with a high deductible will qualify the policyholder to establish an HSA account. IRS regulations, however, are quite specific. Not just any policy with a so-called “high deductible” will suffice. It is important to be certain that you are insured under a properly qualified policy. Your best bet is to work with a qualified and duly licensed health insurance broker who is experienced in marketing properly qualified HSA plans.

5. You must be insurable in order to qualify for the HSA-qualified health insurance policy.
Because most people do not have a properly qualified high deductible insurance policy, they will need to switch insurance plans in order to become HSA-eligible. Unless coverage is being offered under small group reform laws (generally groups with 2-49 employees), the new high deductible policy will be individually underwritten by an insurance company. This means that some “pre-existing” conditions may not be fully covered. Alternatively, some companies may opt to cover certain “pre-existing” conditions in exchange for slightly higher premiums. Unfortunately, some health conditions simply render an individual uninsurable (examples: diabetes, chron’s disease, heart attack, etc.). Underwriting requirements vary by state, which is another reason to rely on an experienced health plan broker.
You should not switch to a HSA plan when the management of existing medical expenses is more important than saving up-front medical insurance premiums. Do not change health plans: in the middle of ongoing medical treatments; after a major health issue has been diagnosed; or if any family member is pregnant.
Generally, it is relatively hassle-free to qualify, i.e. no medical exams, etc. Most insurance companies offering HSA coverage will issue based on your application answers, perhaps accompanied by a follow-up telephone interview. In some cases, medical records may be requested, and companies always reserve the right to order a paramed exam.

6. Although HSA insurance premiums are low, they are not always as low as you might expect.
This happens for one main reason. Simply stated, the underlying insurance policy is just thata health insurance policy. Although it has a “high” deductible, as required by law, the insurance company still must compensate for the risk it is assuming over the deductible amount, which it does by charging premiums. Many companies offer policies with one deductible that all family members contribute toward. With those plans, it is not uncommon for premiums for a 5000 family deductible with 100% coverage after the deductible to be comparable to a 2500 “per person” deductible plan with 80/20 coverage after the deductible.
Lower premiums represent just one element of the lower net cost achieved with an HSA plan. The low net cost of an HSA plan is achieved after factoring in the benefits of lower taxes, made possible by the tax-deductible contribution to the HSA account. Thus, if obtaining the lowest possible gross premium is your main concern, you may wish to consider a high deductible, non-HSA policy, especially if you do not see the benefit to contributing to a tax-deductible savings account.

7. An HSA offers your best chance to keep a lid on health insurance rate increases.
Make no mistake-you will have rate increases with your HSA insurance policy. Because an HSA qualified policy is still a health insurance policy at heart, there is no logical reason to presuppose that an HSA policy would be immune to rate increases required by an insurer to keep paying claims and stay in business. But what you can expect is that the actual dollar amount of any future rate increases will be substantially lower compared to traditional health insurance plans (regular PPO and HMO plans). This is true because insurers base increases on percentages, and the same percentage of a lower base premium results in a lower dollar increase. It’s not a perfect solution-but it is the most cost-efficient solution for many qualified people.

Tags: Additional Savings, Freedom Of Choice, Health Care Decisions, Health Insurance, Health Insurance Policy, Health Insurance Premiums, Health Savings Account, Health Savings Accounts, Healthcare Costs, High Health, Hsa Plans, Income Taxes, Investment Earnings, Ira Withdrawals, Medical Expenses, Own Health Care, Pointers, Self Reliance, Taxable Income, Traditional Ira Account

Related posts

• Can Health Savings Accounts Bring Down High Healthcare Costs? (0)
• Heath Savings Accounts (HSAs) Mean Big Tax Savings (0)
• Health Savings Accounts Put You in Control of Your Healthcare (0)
• Health Savings Account (HSA) (0)
• Companies Move From Health Insurance To Health Savings Accounts (0)