My husband gets insurance through his work and the coverage is good. The only issue we have is our lack of need. Even with regular check-ups, our family does not visit the doctor enough to justify even the small premium that we pay through the employer.
Traditional health insurance does not work for our family, so we looked at investing in a HSA (Health Savings Account). These accounts let you set back money each year to pay for any medical expenses. The money is yours and when you reach retirement age you have access to that money that you did not have to use for medical purposes.
It is like buying a house as opposed to leasing a house.
The only catch is that you have to purchase health insurance with a high deductible even if you choose the direction of the HSA. These insurance policies do not cover much of anything (if anything) until after you meet that high deductible. The theory is that you can use the money in your HSA to pay expenses until you reach that high deductible.
Most of the high deductible insurance policies that I have found for the family are not cheap. We would be paying about the same for one that we currently pay for full coverage through my husband’s employment. I understand that we would probably have to pay a little more for full coverage if we bought insurance privately, but not so much that it justifies the switch to investing in a HSA account.
Another catch is that when you make the switch you need to have enough money set aside to cover that high deductible. Most people are not able to set aside extra money to save when paying these high premiums for regular insurance. And to add insult to injury (pun intended), the government prevents you from opening a HSA account until you do have that high deductible policy even if you have full coverage through another policy.
I know there is a way out of this maze. Every corner I turn leaves me facing another wall. We want to be good stewards of our money. We want to prepare for the future. But the health insurance option, government regulations and basic craziness of it all do NOT make the journey an easy one.