Anybody have a Health Savings Account?

[progressoid]

It's that time of year again and we have to renew our plan through my wife's employer. In the past we had an HRA (health reimbursement account). But now we're considering an HSA.

HSA has much lower payments. Slightly higher deductible. If we had the HSA last year we would have saved a few bucks.

But I'm a just wondering if there are any major issues we should look out for.

[politicat]

1. We did, for two years. what a PITA.

Impossible to get money out in advance for fortnightly necessary meds (spouse has allergies, only one that works for him is pseudoephedrine; there are no PEs on our formulary, so we had to use otc and go through the anti-meth registry every 15 days) or other planned expenses like my spectacles; had to fax (not email scans or mail hard copies) of receipts which meant paying for a fax service (no landline since 2001). Took up to three months to be reimbursed for out of pocket expenses. Required out of pocket income available, which defeated the purpose as far as we were concerned. Our company would lose any faxes sent after 4 pm eastern or on weekends; I got in the habit of calling the customer line, hitting send, then sending my operator check the machine while I waited on hold. (per suggestion from another operator.)

Figure 3 hours a month, so 36 hours, plus $40 for the fax service, for 440 in tax savings a year, all in reimbursement, so we had to bear initial outlay. If we put any of that (I.e. my specs or DH's root canal) on a card and didn't get reimbursed for 3 months, that also means we got dinged for two months interest at around 14% APR. So not worth it.

ETA : we earned no interest on the money; my annual specs are at year end, so we were building up for that. (I'm not cheap on specs, unfortunately.) They probably did make interest. Better for us to take it, take the tax hit, and drop the cash in a 6 month CD.

If the plan has a debit card linked so that there is no reimbursement nonsense, they make sense for things like deductibles, dental, optical and durable medical supplies. Also, make sure it rolls over at the end of the year; having to spend down each year is goofy -though we still have an incredible first aid kit because of that last year.

[progressoid]

2. The PITA aspect concerns me.

I expect more paperwork and hassles. But the need to save some $ may override that. We would get either a debit card or a check book (this plan wasn't specific about which we would get). And the funds do roll over to the next year.

Thanks for your thoughts. We'll decide tonight!

[politicat]

9. I'm soured on them, no doubt, but...

That insurance was awful all around - that employer was ... Church-lady Speeee-shul. They were definitely #1 fans of the Low Bid Contract. I'm pretty sure most providers have to be better (because, it's a seriously low bar to step over).

Watch reimbursements, make sure you can use up to your annual contribution before it's all in there (because if you need something that's $1000 and you only have $850 built up, that can mean delays in processing) and make sure you understand the receipt process before signing up.

For us, using about $2000 a year, it wasn't enough of a savings to compensate for the hassle.

[HopeHoops]

3. It's a gamble. If you don't use it you lose it. In our case...

... we decided it was better to avoid it because the hit on the monthly check would pretty much equal our expected expenses anyway. Sometimes we've been wrong, but on balance we've been right more often.

[kath]

5. NO - with FSAs you use it or lose it. With HSAs(which must be tied with a high-deductible insurance

plan) the money carries over from year to year, and after you reach a certain age in retirement can be used for other expenses.

If you have a debit/ATM card for the HSA where you can withdraw money from the account whenever you want, using it is a piece of cake. Like any tax-sheltered account, you have to keep records of your eligible expenses (just throw all the receipts, etc in a folder) to show that amount withdrawn is not greater than the amount of eligible expenses in case of an audit. But it's fairly loosey-goosey, in that withdrawals and expenses don't even need to be in the same calendar year or benefit year.

[HopeHoops]

7. I don't have high-deductable insurance, but I thought HSA was a use it or lose it.

It really doesn't matter anyway because I rack up thousands in medical bills every year. I hate hospital beds. I REALLY hate hospital beds. I'm tired of getting stabbed every four hours with whatever the fuck they're stabbing me with. Sometimes I just want to end it all, ask for Sodium Pentothal. Did I mention that I hate hospitals?

[ismnotwasm]

4. Yes

My husband has ms and we use it mostly for medication co-pays, dental work etc. . A couple of times we've been asked to provide documentation but the drug store we work with just gave us a list. Oh, and we have a kind of debit card thing to use-- makes it much easier. I've tried it without one and it can get confusing.
All in all worth it, IF you know you'll be using it (say you know you or your family need dental work or a new pair of glasses or contacts, or more especially has consistent prescriptions to be filled out)

[LP2K12]

6. Also looking into one...

Company I work for is switching to HDHP (high deductible health plan) as the only option with a $4000 family deductible. UGH.

[Alleycat]

8. I also think it pre tax meaning

it will reduce your taxable income.