Should You Choose a High Deductible Health Insurance Plan?

As “consumer-driven health care” (CDHC) becomes increasingly popular, you may soon face the decision of whether to switch to a high-deductible health care plan with a health savings account (HSA) if you don’t have one already. 

The basic idea is that your health insurance premiums are lower but you have to pay more out-of-pocket (the deductible) before the insurance kicks in. To help you cover those higher out-of-pocket costs, you and your employer can contribute pre-tax to a health savings account, which allows you to use the money tax-free for qualified medical expenses like a medical FSA.  

But unlike an FSA, any money you don’t withdraw can be carried over indefinitely and used for any purpose without penalty after age 65. In fact, you might even want to pay your medical expenses out-of-pocket if you can and let your HSA grow to be used tax-free for health care expenses in retirement. Some HSAs allow you to invest in mutual funds for that reason. (This the health insurance plans we have at Financial Finesse.)

The general rule of thumb is that these high-deductible plans are best for the “healthy and the wealthy.

” In other words, the less health care you use, the more you can afford to put away in your HSA, and the higher your tax bracket, the more likely the high-deductible plan will make more financial sense for you. On the other hand, if you have a lot of health care expenses or are in a low tax bracket, a more traditional low-deductible health insurance plan may be better for you.

I recently spoke to someone on our Financial Helpline who seemed to fit the latter profile. He estimated that he would use the entire $2,400 deductible for the high-deductible plan and he’s only in the 15% tax bracket so he wasn’t sure that the HSA would be very beneficial. To make sure, we decided to crunch the numbers, assuming he spent $2,400 in health care expenses. (After that, both plans would have the same co-insurance covering 80% of his remaining costs.)

If he chose the low-deductible plan, he would pay $4,692 in premiums, $800 as his deductible, and $320 in co-insurance (20% of the expenses after the deductible) for a total of $5,812. 

If he chose the high-deductible plan, he would pay only $3,384 in premiums but $1,600 towards his deductible (his employer would contribute $800 to his HSA) for a total of $4,984. In addition, if he contributed that $1,600 of out-of-pocket expenses to his HSA, he’d get an additional $240 in tax savings. If he spends less than $2,400, the high-deductible plan becomes even more favorable .

So even though it appeared that he was a better fit for the low-deductible plan, the high-deductible plan ended up saving him more money even without contributing to the HSA. Adding the tax savings from the HSA and the possible savings of potentially spending less than $2,400 on health care was gravy on top. 

Here are some things you want to make sure you factor in before making your own decision:

1)      What’s the difference in premiums, deductibles, and co-insurance between the plans?

2)      Will your employer contribute to your HSA?

3)      How much can you save in taxes by contributing to your HSA?

A wrong decision can cost you hundreds or thousands of dollars each year so don’t just jump to conclusions. Instead, answer those questions and run the numbers. The result may surprise you.

[Source: https://besthealthinsurancepoliciesinindia.wordpress.com/2015/11/20/should-you-choose-a-high-deductible-health-insurance-plan/