3 ms·
The HSA might be worth the cost of a bronze plan even if the mandate goes away: 1. Tax deduction going in, like a traditional IRA so it reduces this year's inco
by cmurf 10y ago
The HSA might be worth the cost of a bronze plan even if the mandate goes away: 1. Tax deduction going in, like a traditional IRA so it reduces this year's income tax. 2. Grows tax free with tax free withdrawals for qualified medical expenses, like a Roth IRA. 3. If you use it for an unqualified expense there's no penalty, but you do pay income tax, again like a traditional IRA so you're no worse off. 4. you don't ever have to withdraw like you do with a traditional IRA. 5. You're young, so if you max out the contributions every year, this HSA will be worth a lot when you need it.
i.e. you don't actually ever take money out of the HSA for medical expenses until you're older or really need it. You pay today's medical bills before the deductible via pay out of pocket.
Chaching.
But I still consider this for profit insurance system a big fat scam on the working poor to upper middle class.
- wutbrodo 10y agoYup, exactly. In fact I think it's the only triple tax advantaged account (when used for Healthcare) and it gracefully degrades into a Roth IRA like account (especially useful if youre ineligible for Roth contribution due to income).
- thanksgiving 10y agoExcept people who have a sizable HSA might see universal healthcare as money "stolen" from them. People should have taken "personal responsibility" and invested in HSA, they'd say. How anyone with principles - fiscally conservative or liberal - can support carving out tax credits and subsidies, I don't understand.
- wutbrodo 10y agoWhat on earth are you talking about? This thread was about someone saying that HSAs make no sense for the contributor's finances, and people rebutting that. Whether it's good healthcare policy is a separate question, and comparing it to the (IMO) ideal of single payer is yet another one. It gets really tiresome how hard it is for some people to do anything but pattern-match every possible conversation to the same few narrow political conversations.
- icantdrive55 10y ago"But I still consider this for profit insurance system a big fat scam on the working poor to upper middle class." 1. Yes--it's a scam. I don't see things changing until we get rid of for-profit insurance companies. The time has come. 2. We need to castrate the AMA. They are the reason we need to go to the doctor for every practically every medication/test/procedure. 3. I can't even bring up single payer because most people believe we will become like Canada. That horrid medical system that lets people die on the streets. 4. Plus--it's time to review refills. If you are on a maintance drug(blood pressure medications, certain psychiatric medications, insulin, etc.), and have a working knowledge of your disease; after a certain number of years on a particular medication--you should have the right to refill your own prescription. 5. Maybe allow registered nurses, if they can pass stringent tests, kinda like the medical board exams; prescribe certain common medications. It would increase the supply of medical professionals. And yes--if they abused the privelege, the state could take their license away. 6. I really don't know. I just don't like our system. I don't even respect the average Doctor anymore. They used to be gods in my eyes. Now their are just running business, and that's fine, but the system is stacked against the patient on all levels. 7. And let's gut the only real patent bill of rights. We are finally given some rights, but they gotta go! (I remember Obama's first health care bill. It was the Rebublicans that wouldn't budge on anything new. He knew it was this plan, or nothing.)