by Beks
I’m back! In case you don’t remember me, I blogged here while paying off my debt from April 2009 to February 2012. I went into debt again shortly after leaving BAD then spent years getting back out. I’ve been debt free for nearly three years now. YAY! The kind team who manages BAD asked if I’d be interested in guest posting. The community here is awesome so it was a no brainer – YES!
I’ll get into my debt mistakes in future posts but first I want to jump into a healthcare topic. I’m in the thick of healthcare Open Enrollment and I’m guessing many of you are too. My healthcare is provided by my employer and they have the traditional options: HMO, PPO, and Savings Plan (HSA).
WHAT IS AN HSA?
If you don’t know what an HSA is, this video explains it best: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s8SFZf3MLCM
I tried an HSA a few years back in between pregnancies because my employer was offering a $5,000 incentive. We had two kids at the time. At the end of the year, we spent a whopping $0 on healthcare. We didn’t make a single doctor visit outside of preventative care. That $5,000 is now invested.
WHAT’S THE RISK?
My husband, kids, and I are healthy and we don’t have any ongoing health issues. So why am I not jumping straight into the HSA? The incentive from my employer added to the amount I’ll save on the monthly premium is just shy of $3,000. The maximum out of pocket is $6,000. I need to evaluate the likelihood I’ll spend more than $3,000 on healthcare next year. If I think I will, we should stick with the HMO.
Part of the reason our family is healthy is because we spend a lot of time outdoors. We hike, we paddleboard, we bike, we MOVE… A LOT. While those are healthy habits, they are also riskier. Scrapes and bumps are part of the landscape. For example, our son fell a few months ago while we were camping and he needed stitches.
Historically, we haven’t incurred more than $1,000/year in medical costs (amount our HMO insurer paid was $1,000, we paid $0), pregnancy/delivery expenses excluded. The most serious has been stitches (once), a hand injury, and the occasional ear infection. But as the kids get bigger, I worry their health costs will increase. We have less ear infections but have more physical injuries. Lots of skinned knees as they learn to ride bikes, hike, climb rocks, etc.
BIG FAMILY = MORE RISK
When we first tried the HSA, we had two kids. We have four kids now. There are six people on the plan. SIX! And I’m crossing my fingers, hoping we won’t spend more than $3,000? Am I an idiot?!?
I’m leaning toward an HSA – I like a good gamble. Open enrollment closes in 7 days. Tell me why I’m crazy… or reaffirm I’m making the right call.
*And yes, I am aware that my healthcare situation is better than many others. I am tremendously grateful.
Beks is a full-time government employee who enjoys blogging late into the night after her four kids have gone to sleep. She’s been married to Chris, her college sweetheart, for 15 years. In 2017, after 3 long years working the Dave Ramsey Baby Steps, they paid off more than $70K and became debt free. When she’s not working or blogging, she’s exploring the great outdoors.
Beks! Oh how I miss your debt journey. This is a far different blog than it was when you were here! It’s no longer a ‘get out of debt’ blog, but… “oh, I have debt but here’s what I spent, oops” kind of blog. And then people trying to give advice on financial planning and debt loads who have no idea what they’re doing. I’m mainly commenting so that you’ll have a comment. I’m sure the owners of the blog reached out to you in hopes of bringing back some old readers, but I’m certain that most of us who’ve been here for a while have quit stopping by. It’s mostly like a train wreck. Can’t look away. Glad you got to post.
For what it’s worth, I use a health savings account and love how the unused money will rollover to the next year.
Really, does HSA money rollover now? I haven’t had a HSA since 2017 but even then was told it was a “use it or lose it” situation.
Or does it vary by provider?
FSAs don’t roll over, HSAs do.
I had an HSA for several years at one employer, and was really blessed by the fact that I had those rollover funds when they eliminated my position. They also continued to pay me for six months as a sort of severance, while at the same time I found a job two weeks later. Since I was getting two incomes at once, for those five months, I put the maximum allowed in that account. That’s what saved me for the next year and a half when I had to purchase healthcare on my own. This all happened from the end of 2015 through mid-2017.
So yes, Health Savings Accounts roll over, and some draw interest. You can use those funds for years to come – it’s almost like a bit of retirement fund protection as well, in case your medical bills will be higher once you’re older. Flexible Spending Accounts to not roll over and they are a use it or lose it situation.
Thank you so much for your kind words! I wish I could hug you through my computer!
You’re very welcome. Hugs received and sent back to you! {{HUGS}}
Is it cost effective to get insurance through two venues? Say one parent on an HSA plan by themselves and the other parent and dependents on an hmo? That’s the best of both worlds because then you could contribute to an HSA that you could use for any family member, regardless of plan.
If not, I’d say it’s too risky without significant cost savings
My husband is a stay at home dad. He doesn’t have healthcare except through me. I like the idea though!
It can be a risk with the HSA, but it is one of the best vehicles for your money, since you don’t pay any taxes on the money that goes in, grows, or comes out. I have two children on my HSA and so far, so good (three years in). Remember, your plan WILL cover some things, so it’s not like you will be responsible for 100% out of pocket costs. Just something to consider!
And I have to echo Alice’s comment- it’s good to see you here!
Thanks for the advice Erin!
First of all, your max oop for the entire family is only $6,000? That’s amazingly low, ours is double that, and the deductible per person is $3000.
Also I think you’re misunderstanding the benefits of an HSA and seriously underestimating it’s usefulness.
An HSA is a tax-free savings account. The government limits the amount of money you can put in per year. The money you put in is tax-free, so it actually reduces your taxable income each year. Then when you withdraw that money to pay for qualified medical expenses, it is not taxed either.
You can put money into the HSA to the max each year and pay for medical expenses out of pocket. This lets the money grow tax-free. You could leave it there until retirement age and then withdraw to use for anything you want, TAX-FREE.
So yes you should pick the HSA because you’re saving money on the premiums. Also you should choose the HSA, and then use the money you’re saving each month on premiums to go directly to your HSA account. This coming year is our first using an HSA. We’ll be saving $375/month in premiums, then turning around and putting that $375 straight into the HSA. So it doesn’t cost us anything different BUT we actually get to use that $375 for medical expenses, instead of just seeing it disappear each month.