Archive for the ‘High Deductible Health Plans (HDHPs)’ Category

High Deductible Health Insurance is a Good Thing

Thursday, May 21st, 2009

I believe in  deductibles.  I don’t believe that general doctors visits, teeth cleanings, general wellness care should be covered by “insurance”.  I don’t even believe that most medical tests should be immediately covered by insurance.

Paying for your own health care costs is a good thing,  it makes you think.  There is over $700 billion spent on unnecessary medical tests every year.  Beyond cost these tests can lead to a great deal of pain and suffering on the part of the patient.  (Here’s a newsflash, not everyone over 50 should get a colonoscopy, for people with certain conditions the risk of perforation is simply too high).

I know a lot of people don’t want to second guess their doctors, but you really, really, really should.  They are human, they don’t know everything — and in many traditional health care scenarios they make more money when they advocate more testing (also, they may get sued if they don’t advocate the test…but that is a subject for another day).

High Deductible Health Plans are NOT Just For the Healthy

Monday, May 18th, 2009

Someone recently told me that for people with chronic illnesses high deductible health care plans (HDHPs) are only good for healthy people.  So I ran the numbers…in my state, with Blue Cross Blue Shield Illinois, he’d be wrong.

Chart Showing High Deductible Health Plan Savings For Someone With Chronic Illness.

Chart Showing High Deductible Health Plan Savings For Chronically Ill Patient

Copays + prescriptions assumes 1 doc visit a month + $20 prescription a month.

This doesn’t include the possibility that the HDHP’s yearly deductible could be partially covered tax free by a Health Savings Account (HSA) and so offer a substantial discount…HSAs are the only current option for people who are not self employed for deductible tax savings (the self employed should consider an health reimbursement arrangement (HRA)).

Of course this scenario doesn’t account for the fact that currently people with chronic conditions CAN’T get health insurance of any kind on their own.

Numbers are based on a friend of mine who has Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy  (RSD) a rare-ish condition that causes her pain nerves to not stop firing.  She needs very expensive prescriptions and has a $30K surgery about once every year or so.

Buying Health Insurance In Massachusetts - The Health Savings Account Option

Tuesday, May 12th, 2009

I tried official Massachusetts “Health Insurance Connector” and didn’t see any Health Savings Account Plans (HSA) represented.  HSA plans have high deductibles that must be met before the insurance kicks in, they tend to offer lower premiums and all the plans I’ve seen are PPO plans.

If you do a search for Health Savings Accounts + Massachusetts a number of plans do come up.  When I compared premiums to what is offered at the Health official “Health Insurance Connector”, sure enough…they were lower.

If you’re in Massachusetts (or anywhere else) consider getting a high deductible health plan (HDHP) compatible with an HSA.

Massachusetts Health Care

Saturday, May 9th, 2009

How much would you pay for health insurance if it were required by law?  Who knows.  The plan in Massachusetts is supposedly breaking the bank (i.e., its going to get a lot more expensive very soon!)  But its hard to say WHY its breaking the bank.

I.e., stringent rules that prevent nurses from providing care, or midwives from delivering babies,  weird rules that make payments for “therapeutics touch” mandatory, as many as 10 trials of artificial insemination?

I notice they don’t seem to have High Deductible / HSA compatible health plans either.  Can that be right?

Anyway, you can see how much health insurance  costs someone like you in Massachusetts for now.

UPDATE:  There are plenty of Health Savings Account Compatible Plans offered in Massachusets.  Just not through the official Mass health insurance finder linked above.

A Thoughtful Analysis from the “Other Side”

Thursday, May 7th, 2009

There’s a lot to be said for Rammesh Ponnoru’s essay, “The Misguided Quest for Universal Coverage“.  The big take away:

To mandate that everyone purchase health insurance, as many have suggested, would require that the government specify what constitutes adequate coverage — in other words, what health conditions an insurance policy would need to cover. Every provider group with a lobbyist, from massage therapists to fertility specialists, would want in. The result would be expensive insurance policies and costly government subsidies to help people buy them.

(more…)

Are health insurance markets competitive?

Wednesday, May 6th, 2009

Depends - read the Health Care Economist for more.

Just yesterday was perousing Massachusetts plans for health insurance.  They were very expensive, but I didn’t see any High Deductible Health Plans / Health Savings Account compatible plans offered.  That is a shame.

I do think High Deductibe Health Plans offer a great choice for consumers.