Can you elaborate on the HSA? Not sure what that means. I have to get testing twice a year for breast cancer since I have the cancer gene. Will the high deductible option make me have to pay more for those tests? I have to get an MRI/ultrasound/mammogram yearly. That’s my only reservation about the higher deductible option. I’m healthy otherwise and hardly ever go to the doctor.
Great question!
Sounds like you might be a good candidate but make sure you read up on your options before being forced into a decision.
Here's the short of it...
High deductible plans allow you to have a Health Savings Account (HSA). You can put up to $3500 for a single person plan or up to $7000 for family in a health savings account that you can then use to pay anything that the insurance does not pay.
HSA savings come out of your check BEFORE taxes are computed (like 401k etc) so you're actually getting a bigger benefit than whatever you put in there (just like 401k). It goes into whatever HSA plan your employer has designated and you can then keep it in a low-interest earning account or invest it like you would your 401k. It can
only be used on your health costs but can also include smaller items like bandages, medicine, normal doctors/dentist visits, etc. that you would normally pay out of your pocketbook.
Unlike a Flexible Spending Account (FSA) which is a "use it or lose it" account to pay vision/dentist costs each year, HSA can be saved and is available to you / your spouse to withdraw at any time -
tax free if used for healthcare - until you die! This makes it more like a Roth IRA.
We use HSA as just another long-term investment vehicle, saving for those bigger health costs of older age but also do save healthcare bills we have now (and pay for with "cash") so that we could withdraw that amount at anytime tax-free. Once per year we actually transfer the money in the employer-designated account to
Lively which has had better investment options (i.e. low-cost passive index funds) through TDAmeritrade.
I will put together some further resources on HSA, Roth, etc.