<p>^^ Since the FSA contributions are pre-tax dollars, an FSA is very tax advantageous as long as you use up all the money in it and don’t forfeit any.</p>
<p>martina99–if you were in an HMO your rates now would most likely be double or more than what you have with your current plan.</p>
<p>GladGradDad–FSA’s only allow $2500/year in contributions and like you said, those funds are lost if you don’t use them. An HSA has an annual contribution of $3250 for a single or $6450 for a family and those funds roll over year after year, the growth on those funds is tax free and you use the funds tax free for qualified purchases. In retirement you can also use those funds for Medicare premiums, assisted living rent and a host of other options. Before age 65 you can use those funds to pay your long term care insurance, COBRA if need be, etc. An HSA is far superior to an FSA.</p>
<p>I have been avoiding this thread… until now. We just got our increase for 2013… 14.5%, which has exceeded my pain threshold ($1000/mo). We have been very happy to date with our BCBS plan, but now will explore alternatives. Aetna has some plans where you pay a co-pay to see a doctor for 3 or 4 visits annually, but after that allocation you pay full freight. We need private pay for another 5.5 years… assuming they don’t end Medicare.</p>
<p>NJres–those kinds of individual plans are pretty common around here. Our son’s girlfriend has one where you get 4 office visits/year for free then you pay your deductible, which can vary from $3000-12,000 depending on which one you pick. You pay a $50 co-pay for office visits after the 4 free ones and everything else you pay 100% until you meet your deductible. After that everything is covered at 100%. It’s a nice plan if you are relatively healthy. Since she is young it is only $78/month for a $10,000 deductible.</p>
<p>Our insurance has gone up 2% or less, I think. H’s employer will continue to pay about 66-75% of the premiums. Most of the plan remains intact and it is a PPO plan that allows us to choose our healthcare provider, most of which (in HI & throughout the US) are participating and preferred. We have no deductible and no maximum limits. After you pay $2500/person/year or $7500 for a family, you don’t have to pay any more co-payments (but Rx isn’t counted). Sadly, we have hit the $2500/person a few times and it was nice that we didn’t have any co-payments (except Rx) once we reached that level. It’s been a very good plan for us and H has had it since we were engaged (had him switch from his HMO so I could keep my healthcare providers). </p>
<p>It has been a great plan, when we were healthy and when we have chronic health issues. We do have the resources to cover our Rx, which is also covered under the plan, which is better than Medicare D.</p>
<p>HImom–Your $2500/7500 is a deductible. Sounds like people in your company use your plan wisely and they haven’t been hit by an major medical issues.</p>
<p>SteveMa – The way I read it, HImom’s policy actually may NOT have a deductible as she explained, and the $2500/7500 maximum amounts are “out-of-pocket limits”:</p>
<p>
[Out-of-Pocket</a> Limit (OOP) - Glossary | HealthCare.gov](<a href=“http://www.healthcare.gov/glossary/O/oop-limit.html]Out-of-Pocket”>http://www.healthcare.gov/glossary/O/oop-limit.html)</p>
<p>This is different from a “deductible”:</p>
<p>
[Deductible</a> - Glossary | HealthCare.gov](<a href=“http://www.healthcare.gov/glossary/d/deductible.html]Deductible”>http://www.healthcare.gov/glossary/d/deductible.html)</p>
<p>These terms can be very confusing and sometimes vague, and I very well may have misunderstood her comment. I was just going through our own options, so all this is fresh in my mind.</p>
<p>costblog–if they pay that amount first, it’s a deductible. If they pay a percentage of a bill up to that amount it’s co-insurance. I work in the insurance industry…</p>
<p>Sorry if there has been confusion. As I mentioned, our policy has NO deductible. The insurer pays from the very first bill we receive (we may make a co-pay, such as $15 when seeing a physician). When our out-of-pocket total–our out-of-pocket limit (excluding co-pays for Rx) reaches the amounts I stated, insurer pays 100% and we don’t even have to pay co-pays for the rest of the year.</p>
<p>For some items we don’t pay anything, including most lab work, immunizations, etc. I guess we may fall into your definition of co-insurance. We have the federal plan, FEHB, which provides very good coverage.</p>
<p>VB, you’re talking about an FSA(Flexible Spending Account), an HSA(Health Savings Account) is a different thing. >>>>></p>
<p>Right! Very confusing, all of it.</p>
<p>Thanks for clarifying that, HImom, that’s what I understood. But as many of us seem to agree, it can be very confusing. :)</p>
<p>I have become better informed about our insurance because we have had them make a LOT of copays over the years and various providers have helped clarify that there are NO caps on how much our insurer will pay for their portion of coverage, including dental (D had wisdom teeth pulled and A LOT of fillings), I will also be having A LOT of fillings and some crowns. Every year, we have to get our insurer to complete a letter verifying that we have NO deductible and that the maximum is at least $1 million/year so we can opt out of the college insurance that would otherwise cost our family over $1K/student. This has helped us review the benefits our policy provides.</p>
<p>Each year, there is also open season, so we have the option of switching plans (which we have never done, since most of our providers are very familiar with our BCBS provider who covers about 80% of the folks in our state).</p>
<p>"And we are blessed with the bad teeth genes as well. Major dental bills every year. My youngest has extreme dental anxiety and needs to be anesthetized for anything more than a cleaning. That is an additional $900 out of pocket every time. "
-Thank goodness I myself happen to be on the other side of the spectrum, I have extreme anxiety with being anesthetized. No such thing for me, not with the single implant. My surgeon almost flips in his chari every time I announce that I am driving myself straight to work right after implant surgery, so, please, no laughigh gas. He would ask many times and then still checks during actual procedure. I am petrified at the prospect of not knowing what is going on, I got to be totally aware, and I always go to surgery by myself and tell them about it. I feel maybe they will be more careful with me, knowing that I am by myself. Sorry to hear about additional expence, no such thing for me, thank goodness. BTW, lots of advil right before works like a charm. But again I have extremely sensitive teeth and my dentist is well aware of it. So, he knows to allow “horse” dosage fo novocain shot and a bit of extra time to get fully numb. But there is no additional cost for these.</p>
<p>After checking out alternatives we are going to increase our deductible and coinsurance (percentage and max) which will dramatically lower our monthly premium. We have not paid a dime towards our deductible in 4 years. I hope we both stay healthy!</p>
<p>I hope everyone stays healthy, but as our family has chronic health conditions, we need to keep in touch with our docs to stay optimized, even if we would prefer not to. Fortunately, our health premiums haven’t really increased all that much over the years and H’s employer still pays the lion’s share, thankfully.</p>