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Yes, one of the benefits of a HDHP is that you can use an HSA which can help since pre-tax dollars can be put directly into an HSA by your employer either as a
by bradfa 7y ago
Yes, one of the benefits of a HDHP is that you can use an HSA which can help since pre-tax dollars can be put directly into an HSA by your employer either as a part of your compensation package or as deductions from your paycheck (you can also make deposits with post-tax dollars and deduct them at tax time but you don't get the FICA taxes back then). Many company provided HDHP don't have THAT low of premiums and the tax savings for many middle class families is minimal due to an HSA due to the recent tax reforms providing a $2k per child tax credit.
For example, I enroll my family in my employer's HDHP. The total premiums from our plan is about $19k this year (employer pays about $14k, I pay about $5k). For this, we have $4k deductible and an $8k max out of pocket coverage. Once we hit the deductible then insurance covers 80% of the cost of most things until we hit our max out of pocket and then they cover 100% of most things, in-network. The most I can put into my HSA is $7k per year.
For about $19k/year in the NY state run insurance marketplace I could buy a HDHP with a $2k deductible and $5k max out of pocket. For $24k/year I could buy a plan that has a $35 copay for pretty much everything. My employer's plan isn't any better than what I could buy on the open market but it IS better for me because I only have to pay a fraction of the premiums.
- defen 7y ago> For example, I enroll my family in my employer's HDHP. The total premiums from our plan is about $19k this year (employer pays about $14k, I pay about $5k). For this, we have $4k deductible and an $8k max out of pocket coverage. Posts like this really emphasize to me how broken healthcare in America is. This is a fairly standard setup and yet you're paying $23,000 per year before you get anything from your insurance other than price negotiation. The median annual personal income in the USA is $31,000.
- bradfa 7y agoRegarding price negotiation, my wife and I have asked multiple doctors, nurses, and billing departments to tell us how much a given service we have received will cost. Both before the service and after the service. We've even called the insurance company with the billing codes from the doctor's office to get quotes. NO HUMANS CAN TELL US HOW MUCH ANYTHING COSTS! We are continually told that we have to wait for the insurance company to come back with the pricing after the service has been rendered. This is the most infuriating part of it, there is no way for us to understand the costs of services which are recommended to us by our doctors. We are not able to shop around or to understand if we could/should delay any particular service because of cost/benefit ratio because we do not know the cost of anything ahead of time. At least our preferred local pharmacy will usually call us prior to filling any expensive prescriptions to make sure that we understand the cost. I assume the pharmacy has enough people balk at the cost after they've already filled the prescription and then they have a bunch of headache dealing with putting the pills back so they've gotten proactive about it.
- evgeniysharapov 7y agoWhen I was shopping around I was told by hospital rep, that they can't tell me the price, because of a) they don't know until they talk to insurance company, b) EMTALA prohibits that.
- tptacek 7y agoI had to negotiate an emergency CAT scan for my daughter about 8 years ago, and they ultimately had to make up a price on the spot for me ($1000). Lack of price transparency is an enormous problem with our current system. Of course, it's a problem on the provider side of the system, not the payer side, which is where everyone spends all their attention.