HSA Major Medical Health Plans Offer Savings and Tax Benefits
Most of us are affected by today's economic environment, high gas prices, and the increasing costs of living. The health insurance industry is not exempt from increasing costs, however there may be an answer to controlling rate increases while maintaining health coverage and financial protection.
New health savings accounts (HSA's) represent a viable option for those searching for low cost health insurance. A health savings account is a special tax-sheltered savings account for medical expenses and is similar to an IRA in concept. Instead of purchasing high-priced health insurance with low co-pays, you buy lower cost health insurance (with a high deductible) for the "big bills" and deposit the difference in the HSA to cover the "small bills." Money deposited into health savings accounts is 100% tax deductible and can be easily accessed by check or debit card to pay medical bills tax-free including expenses not covered by insurance like dental and vision. Monies not used for medical expenses remain the property of the individual account holder, not the insurance company.
The benefits of health savings accounts are numerous and include the following:
Lower monthly health insurance premiums
More stability in premiums
Immediate tax savings
Long-term growth potential
Tax-free withdrawals to pay medical expenses
Tax-free withdrawals to pay for long-term care insurance or COBRA premiums
Freedom to choose your own medical providers
More control over your own healthcare decisions
If you are looking for low cost health insurance and have a desire not to pay high health insurance premiums while reducing federal income taxes, you should definitely contact us for more information on health savings accounts. Aetna, Blue Cross, Blue Shield, and PacifiCare all offer excellent HSA compatible plans. Health savings accounts are the wave of the future! You owe it to yourself to check them out!
For a FREE, no-obligation health quote, please email us the ages and home zip codes of all parties to be covered, any medical conditions or current medications, and information on your current health plan including deductible and monthly premium. We will be happy to run a comparison against several less costly HSA compatible plans. We also have a team of networking professionals who can also analyze your other insurance needs such as homeowners, auto, life, and disability coverage. Our focus is on serving our clients through high ethics, product knowledge, and professionalism.
4 comments:
As of April 1, 2008, Blue Cross of California officially merged changed its brand to Anthem Blue Cross. Was this a good idea? The Blue Cross brand has been around for at least 70 years, maybe much longer in some states. How is the merger going to affect the brand, the company's reputation, the costs, and most importantly, the services?
Phil, this is a great question. I attended a producer roundtable meeting at Blue Cross last fall and asked the question, why change the name to Anthem Blue Cross. Usually, the people in the ivory tower want to put everything under the parent company name for economies of scale in advertising and marketing budgets and also to create national uniformity. However, I feel that changing a brand name that is well known to Californians in the midst of major consumer backlash toward big insurance companies was not the smartest thing that Anthem could have done at this point in time.
In any merger in a capitalistic society, profitability considerations become a major issue. The big box insurers like United Healthcare and Anthem will always be profit driven. I really don't see the merger affecting services and negotiated medical rates adversely. The major concern is always cost in a profit oriented system. However, with that being said, Anthem Blue Cross recently introduced a plan series called "Smart Sense" which is one of the best values for the money today in California. I think only time will tell how the new Antem ownership will affect Blue Cross in the long haul.
HSA options are a good choice for all of the reasons you stated. In the long run it is a great way to keep overall costs low. However, the premiums for such plans are increasing at a higher rate that conventional plans. Last year HSA premiums saw an increase on average of around 30%.
As more people purchase these plans and learn to use them responsibly and correctly we may see the premiums go down.
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