Money you contribute to the HSA is your money and can be invested, as you would money in a 401(k). I think you need a balance of $2000 before you can start investing. You are not required to use this money for deductibles and some folks keep building it year after year. Or you can keep growing it like a savings account.

For 2017 the maximum individual contribution is $3400, more for families. It's a good vehicle for retirement, if you can afford the cash outlay of the higher deductibles.

The actual premiums for a single person in the HSA are only $4.50/pay period or $9/month. That's really cheap. Your individual contributions raise this monthly amount, but again, those aren't premiums, they're contributions to your own account.

I went with the HSA option and think it will work well for me. Research it. They're a pretty good deal in my opinion.