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pnbplus1
Family
Member since 5/09 5751 total posts
Name:
Mommy
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Anyone have a High Deductible Health Plan?
I'm wondering what your experience has been.
DH has to select his benefits package for next year and we just aren't sure what to do. 2 of the plans offered are high deductible plans, another an HMO type we won't pick and the other a PPO option similar to what we have now. The PPO option is the most expensive. The High Deductible isn't cheap either but it can potentially be cheaper than the PPO. We just aren't sure what to do. DH is really healthy and almost never sees a doctor. I go in sometimes bc my blood pressure hasn't been great since pregnancy plus I do have some health issues although nothing too major. We also have 2 DS, ages 4 and newborn.
Looking for people's thoughts on these since we just aren't sure what to do. The HDHP has a decductible of $2000 or $1250 each, with family deductibles of 4000 or 2500 respectively. The PPO option is $6500 for the year spread across pay checks.
Looking for anything that will help me make sense of this.
ETA: With DH's plan, once the deductible is met, the ins plan covers 90% of costs and we are responsible for remaining 10%. This is the same as the PPO though. Ugh, so confused. PPO has a max out of pocket coinsurance amount and once that is met, they cover 100%. So confused! It's so much money!!
Message edited 11/1/2013 4:57:42 PM.
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Posted 11/1/13 4:19 PM  |
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LiGirl1225
LIF Infant
Member since 6/13 69 total posts
Name:
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Re: Anyone have a High Deductible Health Plan?
My husband has a high deductible plan. The way his plan works:
Single Coverage:
$3250 deductible.....company contributes $500. SO basically, he has to put away $2750 and once that deductible is met, the company pays 100% of bills after that. He has the option of putting that money into a HSA pre-tax. He can max out if he wants (which you get the benefits since its pre-tax) or he can contribute as little as he wants. If he does not max it out, the difference has to be met with after tax dollars (meaning, coming from our bank acct, etc). He pays $21/pay period for this plan.
Single Coverage: LOWER DEDUCTIBLE
$2000 deductible....company contributes $500. Once that $2000 is hit, the company covers 85% of future costs, employee responsible for 15% for remainder of year. Payment of $40/pay period for this plan.
The high deductible plans are beneficial if you frequently get sick or hit that deductible amount and know for the remainder of the year you are covered at 100%. The money in the HSA is put in on Jan 1 so we have the $3250 upfront to cover the whole year and each pay contribution to his HSA goes back as a repayment for it being advanced.
HTH
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| Posted 11/1/13 4:54 PM |
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jessnbrian
Only God knows His plan for us
Member since 4/13 7238 total posts
Name:
Jessica
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Re: Anyone have a High Deductible Health Plan?
Posted by pnbplus1
I'm wondering what your experience has been.
DH has to select his benefits package for next year and we just aren't sure what to do. 2 of the plans offered are high deductible plans, another an HMO type we won't pick and the other a PPO option similar to what we have now. The PPO option is the most expensive. The High Deductible isn't cheap either but it can potentially be cheaper than the PPO. We just aren't sure what to do. DH is really healthy and almost never sees a doctor. I go in sometimes bc my blood pressure hasn't been great since pregnancy plus I do have some health issues although nothing too major. We also have 2 DS, ages 4 and newborn.
Looking for people's thoughts on these since we just aren't sure what to do. The HDHP has a decductible of $2000 or $1250 each, with family deductibles of 4000 or 2500 respectively. The PPO option is $6500 for the year spread across pay checks.
Looking for anything that will help me make sense of this.
Personally, with the kids and your BP, I would just go for the PPO. It'll make things easier in the long run regardless of finances too, as PPO's are more often accepted by drs/facilities and typically have less red tape to go through if you need testing, to see specialists, or be hospitalized. I've been in the HC business for over 10 years and when DH got a new job earlier this year, I had him pick the one with the higher premium and lower deductibles.
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| Posted 11/1/13 4:57 PM |
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FranM
And so it goes....
Member since 9/05 2217 total posts
Name:
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Anyone have a High Deductible Health Plan?
Do you have the opportunity to participate in a HSA along with the HDHP. If you can afford to fund the HSA even at 50% of your deductible it may be worth it. The HSA contribution is pretax and you can carry unused funds forward. Essentially it's a pretax savings account that you use for medical expenses not covered by your health plan including deductibles. You have to look at your total certain outlay for each plan. Then do a "what if "comparison.
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| Posted 11/1/13 7:58 PM |
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Iheartli
LIF Infant
Member since 6/13 68 total posts
Name:
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Anyone have a High Deductible Health Plan?
What's the yearly cost of the high deductible plan? I've opted for a high deductible plan since I first started working. i figured I have no kids yet and no existing conditions. If I had kids I probably would not got this route. They are constantly getting sick, I wouldn't want to come out of pocket. If you opt for a high deductible you can likely set up a health savings account which is deducted from your paycheck tax free and can be used for medical expenses if you need to. Its really a gamble, in my situation, what I've saved in monthly premiums has just about added up to the cost of my deductible.
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| Posted 11/1/13 8:01 PM |
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Xelindrya
Mommy's little YouTube Star!
Member since 8/05 14470 total posts
Name:
Veronica
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Re: Anyone have a High Deductible Health Plan?
Posted by FranM
Do you have the opportunity to participate in a HSA along with the HDHP. If you can afford to fund the HSA even at 50% of your deductible it may be worth it. The HSA contribution is pretax and you can carry unused funds forward. Essentially it's a pretax savings account that you use for medical expenses not covered by your health plan including deductibles. You have to look at your total certain outlay for each plan. Then do a "what if "comparison.
This..
AJ has always surprised us! Plus we have dental expenses and vision so our FSA helps out too.
Medically we are all fairly healthy and don't get sick, but I have some health 'issues' that can be and should be monitored.
But, I had vertigo and needed a brain MRI last year. This year AJ went under the knife, 2 years ago it was tubes or something else. SOMETHING always comes up. So we do High Deductible BUT we have it set for HSA to pay first then our FSA. So we pay nothing until FSA is used up. We split our deductible between them so its pre-tax and HSA does roll over
Actually FSA may soon be able to roll over too.
New company won't let me take a standard FSA, I can only do a limited one for dental/vision so I'm loading up my HSA to cover the deductible. I then can control my expenses year over year. If I don't hit my deductible and don't use all my HSA I will then only add to it to meet the deductible next year. So my ded is $3500, I will put that aside in HSA and make payments, but if I only use up $1000 this year, then next year I'll only add $1000 to my HSA and so on. But I will never pay my deductible 'out of pocket' post tax and at a doctor's office. All claims are processed with a 'bill me later' type option to allow the insurance to pay first. I also go an extra step on my own and pre-verify anything over $300 and make sure the billing folks where I'm going are good with my plan, or I choose another doctor in network.
ETA: plus doing it this way helps my taxes since its all pre-tax.
Message edited 11/2/2013 11:47:51 AM.
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| Posted 11/2/13 11:45 AM |
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Anyone have a High Deductible Health Plan?
I'd take the max with the high ded plan and figure out what the HMO part you pay from your paycheck and see what's cheaper.
For my plan, even if I maxed the hdp, it's cheaper than the HMO/ppo
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| Posted 11/2/13 6:25 PM |
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Anyone have a High Deductible Health Plan?
I'd take the max with the high ded plan and figure out what the HMO part you pay from your paycheck and see what's cheaper.
For my plan, even if I maxed the hdp, it's cheaper than the HMO/ppo
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| Posted 11/2/13 6:25 PM |
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