By: Health Insurance
Submitted: 2009-11-24 16:52:24 | Word Count: 451
In today’s economic environment people are looking to trim expenses anywhere they can. And, with so much talk about healthcare reform individuals are becoming more involved and aware of the cost and availability of healthcare and health insurance.
Aetna, as well as other providers has been proactive in making insurance plan information and cost comparison tools available on the internet. To compare your insurance premiums to those offered by Aetna and others you can go to: Aetna Health Insurance or Healthcare Online to check a list of other providers available.
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One type of plan that is often overlooked and misunderstood is the HSA account. This type of plan generally has a lower premium, a higher deductible and incorporates an individual savings vehicle used to pay for doctors office visits and other medical expenses below the deductible amount.
The common concern is that doctor’s office visits are not covered prior to meeting the deductible amount. The misunderstanding comes in when consumers fail to factor in the savings in premium vs. the added cost of paying doctors out of the savings portion of the plan. A quick side by side comparison helps demonstrate the advantage:
For the average healthy 40 year the premium on an HMO policy will run $200-$250/month. (We’ll use $225) A $3000 deductible HSA premium might be around $150/month; that amounts to a savings of $75/month or $900/year. Of course savings may be greater or smaller based on specific circumstances including health and the area in which you live. However, those in good health, predominately concerned about a large, catastrophic illness may find the HSA a reasonable option.
Some points to keep in mind: 1) Should the hypothetical individual needs to see a doctor they will pay the insurers negotiated rate for an office visit. This is likely less than one month’s premium savings ($75) for the average visit. So if the insured gets the flu or needs some other one time visit the savings is still significant. 2) A catastrophic insurance plan is better than no insurance at all. 3) Prescription drugs are generally paid for out of pocket under the deductible so these plans may not fit those with expensive Rx needs. 4) The saving should be contributed to the HSA savings account which is then tax deductible saving a few more dollars at tax time.
Bottom line, there are choices and consumers should shop around.
