I'm self-employed and looking into a HSA (Health Savings Account) for my health insurance. Any suggestions?

Question

I'm self-employed and looking into a HSA (Health Savings Account) for my health insurance. Any suggestions?

Answer 1

Great idea, unless you love paying taxes on your health care dollars. Since you are self-employed, try enrolling in a “qualified” High Deductible Health Plan (HDHP). Under federal law, the minimum deductible in a HDHP plan is $1,100 for an individual and $2,200 for a family. The maximum deductibles are $5,500 for an individual and $11,000 a family.

The advantage of an HDHP is that you can shelter up to $2,850 for an individual or $5,650 for a family per year from state and federal taxes in a Health Savings Account (HSA). Depending on your tax bracket and where you live, that could save you as much as $2,971 in taxes per year, assuming a combined tax rate of 52.6%—9.3% in state income tax (California), 28% in federal income tax, and 15.3% in self-employment Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA) tax. Another way of looking at it is that the HSA doubles your buying power, since you are using pre-tax dollars. The contributions you make to an HSA are yours to keep, rolling over each year. The funds are not taxed, provided you use them to pay medical expenses or withdraw them after age 65. The funds earn interest on a tax-deferred basis. Think of it as an IRA that you can use to pay out-of-pocket medical expenses.

To find a qualified plan, speak with a health insurance broker. A broker works with several insurers and can find the best plan, rates and coverage for you. To find a broker, log on to a website like http://www.healthinsurancewiz.com and fill out a form requesting a free quote. Good luck!

Answer 2

I would encourage you to be very careful when shopping for an HSA.  Take the time to compare the HSA benefits with a typical HMO or PPO.  Several years ago when they came out HSA's were a great deal.  You could take the "significant" cost savings and put that into an account to draw from whenever you needed it for health reasons.

In Colorado we are frequently seeing the rates only 10% apart for a PPO and an HSA.  At that small of a difference many of our clients are choosing to go the route of the PPO or HMO so they recieve all the prescription and co-pay benefits.

Hope that helps!

Barrett Bartels

www.affordableamericaninsurance.com

Answer 3

Great idea.  It is made for you.  You buy a high deductible plan (I recommend $5,000) and put away money pre-tax to be used for any medical expense under the deductible tax free.  The bank you go with will give you a debit card for that account.  It works like an IRA.  You can put in up to your deductible every year and it rolls over.  The ded. is one for the family and then it pays 100%.  All the companies handle them.  Shop for the best price.

Answer 4

very good idea

Answer 5

I wish my answer could be laborsaving for your question.here is the source i provide for your reference.http://health-insurance.expert-tip.info/...

Answer 6

Here are 3 quick suggestions:

1. Calculate The Tax Benefit Ahead Of Time: Determine how much money you will contribute to the HSA in this tax year 2008 (if in fact you decide to purchase the plan) and then decide how much money you will be saving in taxes. Since contributions to an HSA are able to be taken as an "above the line" tax deduction on the front of your 1040 and there are no income phaseouts then you can calculate your potential tax savings by taking your contribution amount times your tax bracket. The higher your tax bracket the more tax savings you will see. HINT: Remember that the IRS sets annual limits as to how much you can contribute to an HSA.

2. Don't Forget The Self Employed Health Insurance Deduction: You can get double benefits if you purchase an HSA and you are self employed. Just remember to check with your tax advisor to see if you can deduct your health insurance premiums (100% on the front of your 1040) whether you decide to purchase an HSA or not.

3. Compare Insurers: Some insurance companies specialize in providing HSA compatible High Deductible Health Plans (HDHP) and have very competitive rates while other only offer HSA's as an ancillary product offering with not very attractive rates. Shop around and compare quotes from at least 3 different companies that offer HSA plans before you buy.

http://www.healthquote360.com/Health_Ins...

Answer 7

Good idea.  Just look for a savings plan with a good interest rate.  It's what I'm going to do - for health insurance, you're paying about as much anyway, and then you have all the bull **** insurance policies to deal with, the copays, all of the paperwork, it's just a huge head ache and you end up getting ****** over more often than not.  Their job: take your money, and do everything they can not to give you anything back no matter how bad you need it.

Putting your own money into your own account, allows you to draw from this pool whenever you need money for health care.  But I might not do this unless I have a lot to put down - i.e. if I put $25,000 into a health savings account, its interest (say, 5% a year - or $1,250 a year) alone will be able to more than pay for your annual health care costs.  Especially if you're the type of person who is healthy and able to take care of your own body without the help of prescriptions and surgeries.

Answer 8

My suggestion is to avoid one insurance company in particular that offers HSA's. It's called "Medical Savings Insurance". They are an Indiana based company run by a weasly lying little nut by the name of J.Patrick Rooney.They're still operating in 5 states and have recently left FL (Thank God).They flat out refuse to pay any hospital bills that they deem overpriced.Since the hospital bill tends to be the largest portion of a medical expense getting stuck with a 30 to 50,000 dollar or more bill isn't a fun experience.Humana offers a much better quality plan.The main thing is to check with your local hospitals to see what brands of insurance they take and make sure that  the insurance company that you choose is contracted with those hospitals. Otherwise you could get stuck with an outrageous hospital bill and an insurance company that expects you the patient  to negotiate the price of your own bill down with! Trust me you DON'T want to go THERE!

Been there, done that.