December 7th 2010
What is a Health Savings Account ("HSA")?
A Health Savings Account is a tax-advantaged addition to your traditional health insurance plan.
November 12th 2010
How to Get a Low Cost Health Savings Account Plan
Health Savings Accounts have become increasingly popular in recent years because they are a great way to save on health insurance and save on your taxes. Here’s an explanation of how Health Savings Accounts work, plus how to get a low cost Health Savings Account plan.
What are Health Savings Accounts?
A Health Savings Account (HSA) is an inexpensive, high-deductible health insurance plan, combined with a tax-deferred savings account. You put money in a savings account to be used toward paying your health insurance deductible (the amount you must pay toward an insurance claim before your insurance will pay).
The money you put into your savings account is tax deductible, and can also be used to pay for health care expenses like prescription drugs, vision care, or dental bills. The money that remains in your account earns interest tax deferred so you don’t have to pay taxes on it.
A high-deductible health plan (also known as a catastrophic health insurance plan) is a health insurance plan whereby you pay for the first few thousand dollars of your medical bills, then your insurance company pays the rest.
You control how to spend your HSA and what type of investments to make with the money in your account. If you withdraw money from your HSA for non-medical reasons you’re subject to paying taxes on it and a 10% penalty.
Where can I get an HSA?
You can sign up for an HSA with your employer, at your bank, at a credit union, or with an insurance company (see link below). For more information on HSAs and how to set up your account, visit the U.S. Treasury Department’s website at: treasury.gov/offices/public-affairs/hsa.
How much do HSAs cost?
You don’t purchase an HSA, you purchase a high deductible health insurance plan and put money into your savings account to pay for your deductible and other medical expenses.
Where can I get cheap high deductible health insurance?
To get cheap high deductible health insurance you need to compare rates from different companies. Fortunately, this is easy thanks to the Internet. You can go online to an insurance comparison website, fill out one simple form, then get rate quotes from a number of insurance companies.
August 30th 2010
Where to Get Low Cost Small Business Health Insurance in Colorado
Thanks to rising health care costs, health insurance can cost a bundle. But you can still get low cost small business health insurance in Colorado if you know how. Here’s how to do it …
Small Business Health Insurance
As a small business owner you can buy a group health plan and get lower premiums, plus better coverage than you would with individual insurance. Your premiums are calculated for the group as a whole, and individuals may purchase additional coverage to suit their needs. As an employer you get tax deductions for any contributions you make.
There are a number of types of health insurance plans you can buy that won’t cost you an arm and a leg. Here are the most popular:
HMO (health maintenance organization) – An HMO is a comprehensive health care plan that pays for your and your employees doctor visits, hospital bills, and prescription drugs. You pay a monthly premium and are assigned to a group of health care providers – doctors, hospitals, and specialists.
HMOs usually have no deductibles, and co-payments are anywhere from $5 to $15 per doctor visit, so your out-of-pocket expenses are low. These plans are the cheapest comprehensive health care plans.
MSA (medical saving account) – An MSA is a tax-sheltered savings account, similar to an IRA, that’s used to pay medical expenses. All the money you deposit into your MSA are tax deductible and can be withdrawn at any time to pay for your medical expenses. Any money left in the account continues to grow tax free.
MSAs are typically combined with an inexpensive, high-deductible health insurance plan. You pay for medical expenses with the money from your MSA until the deductible on your health plan is met. Then your plan takes over and pays for your medical expenses. MSAs provide a low-cost alternative to high-cost health plans.
Major Medical Health Insurance – Major medical, or catastrophic health insurance is limited to paying for major medical expenses like cancer and heart disease. These plans typically pay your hospital expenses, surgical costs, X-rays, and lab tests, but do not pay for routine doctor visits or prescriptions drugs costs.
Where to Get Low Cost Small Business Health Insurance
The only way to know if you’re getting a good rate is to compare rates from different companies. You can compare rates quickly and easily by going to an insurance comparison website where you can get rate quotes from multiple companies on one website.
August 22nd 2010
How to Manage Your HSA Health Insurance Plan
Health Savings Accounts consist of two parts – the high deductible health plan (HDHP), and the Health Savings Account (HSA) itself. By carefully choosing which bank you use to establish your HSA, and strategically choosing how to fund your account and manage your investment, you will be able to get the most return on your money while keeping your expenses to a minimum.
Make Sure to Establish Your Health Savings Account
By switching from a conventional copay health insurance plan to a high-deductible health insurance plan (HDHP), most people are cutting their health insurance costs by about 40% or so. This is such a big savings, that many people neglect to take the next step and set up their HSA. But this is a financial mistake that is costing them money.
Unless you pay no income tax and have zero medical expenses (including dental, over-the-counter medications, or charges for alternative care like chiropractic or acupuncture), you will absolutely save money by establishing your HSA. Just find a good HSA Administrator and get started.
Run All Your Medical Expenses Through Your HSA
Not everyone feels like they have “extra” money that they afford to set aside in their HSA, despite the tax savings and other financial benefits. Even if that’s the case, you should still establish your HSA. Every time you incur a medical expense, deposit at least as much money as you spent on that medical expense. For instance, if you went to the dentist and it cost $85, put $85 in your HSA. If you like you can then take it right back out.
What this does is convert this medical expense into a tax-deductible expense. Then when you file your taxes next year, you can put the total amount that you ran through your HSA on line 25 of your 1040, and deduct it from the total income you report.
Cover Your Deductible
Your next step is to get enough money in your HSA to cover your deductible. For 2008, deductibles range from $1100 to $5600 for individuals, and $2200 to $11,200 for families. Annual contribution limits are $2900 for individuals, and $5800 for families. So it could take a couple years or longer to get enough money in your account to cover your deductible.
Once this money is in your HSA, you will have the confidence of knowing that you can cover most any medical expense that comes your way, particularly if you have a health insurance plan that pays 100% after your deductible.
As you continue to build money in your account, you may want to consider switching to a health insurance plan with an even higher deductible, which will further lower your premiums.
Minimize the Fees You Pay
If you will be using your HSA to pay medical expenses as you incur them, you should keep an eye on the fees your bank charges. Until you have enough money in your account to cover any fees with investment returns, you probably want to have your HSA with a bank that charges no fees. (Several are listed on the website referenced above).
If you plan to access money from your HSA to pay ongoing medical expenses, you may wish to keep a portion of your HSA money in a savings account or short-term CD. But to take maximum advantage of your HSA, you’ll want to eventually move some of the funds to investments that have a higher potential return.
Investment Options
No other investment has the triple tax-advantage that Health Savings Accounts offer. Not only is your Health Savings Account deposit tax deductible, and your withdrawals to cover medical expenses tax-free, but your investment also grows tax-deferred make Health Savings Accounts a great investment option.
Taking advantage of tax-deferred growth is one of the best ways to build long-term savings. Some banks will provide a short list of mutual funds you can invest in, while others provide access to an online discount brokerage such as Ameritrade where you can choose from stocks, bonds, mutual funds, and more.
The most aggressive strategy is to pay your medical expenses from somewhere other than your HSA, and save the receipt. You can then reimburse yourself at a later date. The additional growth you get from not paying any taxes on your investment may be enough to cover all your medical expenses.
May 1st 2010
Health insurance shopping tips
Many people are complaining about their health insurance costs, having a dramatic increase in rates over a short period of time. Some policyholders have noticed that their rates increased by 30% over the last two years and that definitely rings a bell, when a good portion of your income is spent on health insurance. In this time when every spare dollar counts, people are looking for ways to minimize their expenses and insurance, whether health, car or homeowners, is the first thing that comes in mind when cutting costs. Some people choose to drop health coverage altogether, ending up with astronomic bills for any medical service they get. Others are more careful with their decisions and first investigate what other types of health insurance can bring to the table. Here are some things to consider if you want to minimize your insurance costs.
Should I get individual or group health insurance plan?
There are a lot of questions about group and individual health insurance. Of course, group plans are very convenient in the sense that you can insure your entire family and pay out a single premium rather than have multiple separate policies, which only multiply the annoying paperwork. However, group health insurance usually has higher rates as it should guarantee that even high risk customers within the group have adequate coverage. This, of course, makes the healthier group members pay for the risk they share with the less healthy members. Such a situation can be acceptable if there are different health issues among different members. But if your family is healthy in general it would be more cost effective to purchase separate individual policies for each member, because the rates in individual plans are based on your particular health situation and if it’s OK then you will get much lower rates than with a group health insurance plan.
Outline your exact insurance needs and get an appropriate plan
If you are looking for cheap health insurance you first have to determine what your exact insurance needs are. Analyze your conditions, see how often you go to the doctor and what particular services you are using most frequently, and choose a plan that gives you the base rates for your exact needs. With so many different plans out there on the market you should definitely find the one that will give you cheap health insurance and will address all of your needs to the proper extent.
Finding cheap health insurance while self-employed
Those workers who are self-employed often find it hard to get adequate coverage for a low price. The group health insurance benefits that an employer can give their workers don’t apply here, and in most cases self-employed specialists have to go with independent individual health insurance plans that can sometimes be quite expensive. However, if you are leaving a workplace with good group health insurance benefits, you may fall under COBRA regulations in certain circumstances and continue receiving group health benefits while already being self-employed. If your previous employer didn’t have any group health benefits, it would be better to go independently.