We have to pay our own insurance and have a policy with BCBSNC. Our premiums just went up again so that we are now paying $660 a month with a $2500 deductible for the three of us which is getting rediculous. We just heard about Health Savings Accounts and are starting to look into it. I find it very confusing and a bit scary in that you have to cover your own medical expenses until you reach a very high deductible. I was wondering if anyone has experience with these and what you think of it. It looks like the premiums would be almost as high with a $2200 deductible, so I'm not sure where the benefit of having one is. Can anyone enlighten me?
not trying to be too nosey but do you have the nc medical society bcbs plan? we have just switched to this plan at work and it has a hsa and so far it sucks!
No, we just have an individual BCBS policy, not group coverage. Blue Advantage, I think it is called.
I have an HSA and at first, I was a little scared......but......my company prefunds my entire HSA with my payroll deductions, and so far so good. When I get scripts filled or go to the Dr, other than Well care which is paid 100%, I just use my HSA visa. When my deductible is met, everything will be 100%.
Yeah i was thinking along the same lines, i did it too with the company but i think the private works a bit differently than a company sponsored one. At least that is how it seemed when i was checking it out for someone recently.
you also have to remember that there isnt any co pays so everything is full price until you reach that deductible.......
Ours does not work like that, we use it to pay the deductibles before the insurance cuts in and all the savings are pretax so it is a great benefit.
i guess it just depends on which one you get bc with my company they give us half of the money up front to use then when that money is all gone we have to use our own money at 100 % then when you have finally reached the deductible everything is covered at 100% no cost.
You won't pay 100% of the bill, you will pay 100% of the allowed amount, in other words the same amount the insurance company would be paying if they paid the bill themselves.
Hi Brea.. I have a HSA account through work that covers my entire family. I have had it now for over a year and I have liked it. Now even more as my HSA account balance is over my deductible for at least one person for the year. The way mine works is that I get a premium taken out of my check per month (which is MUCH lower than they normal family coverage) my company also gives me a dollar amount to put in my account per month as well (incentive I suppose to open one up) Last year was my first year on it and I was worried about that high deductible but honestly it wasn't bad, no major illnessed, injuries etc.....(which is amazing with 2 little boys!!!) Now that my first year is over I have money in that HSA account and whenever I need it for bills I will just give them the HSA spending card and it will come right out of the account. Note, with kids it is tough especially if they are sick alot or tend to go the the doctors often. Wellness checks are covered 100% on my plan like Jennifer S' but stuff like colds, ear infections are not so I have to pay the entire balance each time until I hit that high deductible. As of now, I just use the debit card for that as I am comfortable with the balance in it and I know I do have the amount in there to cover the entire deductible amount for the year if something drastic happens. Hope this helps, sorry if I rambled
This is how my HSA plan works.... We have a $5450 family deductible. The company pays the first 2725 and we pay the second. After ALL of the $5450 deductible has been met then everything is paid at 100% for the remaining part of the year. As mentioned you are responsible for the "allowable" amount and not the co-pays. Example if you have a mammogram and the company bills the insurance $235 BCBS allowable amount is about $220.... So $220 comes out of your dedcutible that we pay out of our pocket and then submit the EOB to be reimbursed until the company has paid all of their $2750..... My labs were billed at $27.00 last month and BCBS allowable amount is $5.36.... so only $5.36 comes out of my dedcutible and the docotors office writes off the rest. It is a little scary when you go to have a baby as I am and you know that you will have to come out of pocket $2750! With my husbands plan I would only have to pay about $400 (but his insurance cost a lot monthly).... I personally do not like having an HSA but at least I have insurance and once everything is met then everyting will be paid 100%! So if I have a rash, indigestion, cough, ache, pain or anything I will be going to the doctor since I will meet my deductible this year! LOL LOL
