If you are smart and careful (and lucky) you will have a sizable savings ready for an emergency,
I'm not smart (that's why I'm a pilot) I'm reasonably careful, I'm healthy(Lost 30 lbs in the last 8 months) but I CANNOT control the Luck factor. Wavit is right, alot of us myself included don't understand these plans, what I do understand is that with the HSA you need a little or maybe a lot of luck and that is precisely the reason people have insurance, cause you can't control luck. I'd rather pay the extra premium for my PPO and not be worried on Jan 1 2012 about my kid having a traumatic accident and me with an EMPTY HSA. Skywaste has once again proven that they do not care about their employees. I understand that many people may benefit from the HSA, great, let us have a CHOICE!! I for one am disgusted.
The HSA does not leave you without insurance. You have the same 80% coverage that the PPO has. The only difference is that the deductible is much higher in the HSA. If there was a traumatic accident to anyone (God forbid), it's not like you are stuck with the full bill. You will pay out of pocket up to the deductible (or max out-of-pocket amount) and the co-insurance (80% covered) kicks in the same as if you just had the PPO. I am still deciding what I am going to do, I just don't want people to think the HSA is not insurance. It is basically insurance that has a bank account attached that you pay the out of pocket expenses from.
This reminds me of some catastrophic health insurance I got between getting a job out of college. I was no longer able to have my parent's insurance but I was working at a restaurant that didn't provide any. Anyway, it had a massive deductible and was only really meant to save you from financial Armageddon if you got hit by a car, had a heart attack, or got cancer.
The problem with policies like this is that it persuades you against going in for small problems. You might think twice about going in for a cough or sore throat because you'd have to pay the full $300 for the doctor visit. Most of the time you'd save money by being thrifty on the doctor visits. But what if you were in the early stages of pneumonia or cancer? You'd hold off until you were seriously ill and then not only will the bills be much higher for everyone but your chances of survival might have gone down considerably.
I had a buddy who had a massive sore throat for weeks and weeks but didn't go in because he didn't have insurance. Finally one day his tonsils started closing in and he could barely breath. We ran him into the ER and it turns out he had mono. Probably had it the entire time. Through all that he put in long days and nights and could of seriously hurt himself with the swollen spleen. If he had good insurance he wouldn't have been concerned about going in to see a regular doctor for a checkup. Instead he put it off and the problem just got worse and had we not of gotten him to a hospital he might have suffocated!
The problem is health care is not free. There is always a cost involved. And in the case of the health insurance, premiums have been going up steadily by 10% per year for the last 10-15 years. That's WAY above inflation. But before we go blaming the insurance companies for greed and selfishness, we have to realized that they only make a 5-7% margin. Apple makes 50%, just to put things in perspective. A 10-15% profit margin is considered reasonable. So the health insurance companies are not at fault for the increases, and ASA/SkyWest and other companies trying to save a few bucks are also victims.
HSA plans are actually part of the solution. If you think about it, you really have no idea how much your insurance actually costs, because it is subsidized by your employer. For that matter, you have no idea how much your doctor or hospital bill actually is because 80% of it is paid by the insurance company. There is no free market in health care, because the actual consumer (us) is sheltered from the true costs by the way the system works. We shop for groceries, we shop for a new car, we shop for everything, but not for health care. Unless it's something catastrophic, no one gets a second opinion.
Imagine buying auto insurance that covers everything down to oil changes. It would cost a lot more, right? But because you and I have to reach into our own wallet to pay for maintenance, etc. companies have to compete based on price as well as quality.
HSA plans with their higher deductibles encourage people to be smart consumers. Granted, if I just broke my arm I'm not going to get on the phone and call around to see who will give me the best deal. But if it's a routine check-up, or a procedure that can be scheduled in advance, there is all the reason in the world to shop around and save some money.
In short, HSA plans, while hardly perfect, are a response to runaway health care and insurance costs that help bring those same costs under control. They are not the only solution, but they are part of it.
Now in light of my previous comments let me say one other thing. While I don't think the HSA is AS BAD as people are making it out to be I still think the PPo and HMO plans should be offered. I am not saying that SkyWest is doing the right thing by taking it away. Nor am I saying they can do no wrong. On the contrary actually! I am joining the fight to keep the PPO and HMO options at SkyWest. I still think people should have an option and not be forced into the HSA. All I am saying is that the HSA is not as bad as everyone is making it out to be. Like I said, last year I would have saved money on that plan as opposed to my PPO plan.
The problem is health care is not free. There is always a cost involved. And in the case of the health insurance, premiums have been going up steadily by 10% per year for the last 10-15 years. That's WAY above inflation. But before we go blaming the insurance companies for greed and selfishness, we have to realized that they only make a 5-7% margin. Apple makes 50%, just to put things in perspective. A 10-15% profit margin is considered reasonable. So the health insurance companies are not at fault for the increases, and ASA/SkyWest and other companies trying to save a few bucks are also victims.
Awwww poor lil' insurance companies. I guess I should feel bad for them when they deny people treatment for cancer and other things for BS reasons. Not to mention you're comparing a computer company to an insurance company two totally different things. But I guess when I think about people getting bankrupted by health insurance costs I know it will be for the greater good so some exec can get a new Ferrari because they were able to boost their margins.
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