Jennifer Lea writes for jlogged.com, and is co-owner of 
Frugal Health Insurance
Like many families who work for small companies or own their own business we have the ever looming dilemma of where and how to find affordable decent health insurance. For many years we went through a private insurance company and gave them a large chunk of my husband’s paycheck each week to almost never have them cover anything we went to the doctor for (which was rare thank goodness,) and paid for most visits out of our own pocket. No dental, no vision, no RX coverage. Basically total crap insurance because we didn’t think we had a better choice.
Recently we found out congress passed a bill into law that enables us to open an HSA, (Health Savings Account) which is a tax sheltered medical savings account.  All of the money we pay each month goes into this account, and is basically like an IRA that is dog eared for medical expenses. Included in the HSA is a high deductible insurance policy. We can contribute up to the deductible amount into the MSA, and once deductible is reached the policy pays 100% coverage. We can see any doctor we like, have access to vision, dental, and RX now. I can even buy band-aids, sunglasses, and sunscreen with my card with tax free money because they are coded as medical supplies.
The plan we use is through Assurant Health, and is officially endorsed by Dave Ramsey. So, far this plan seems to be the smartest move for us health insurance wise. The main expenses we have had medically within the last eight years were the births of my children, my yearly check ups, dental work, glasses, and my mammogram none of which were covered, and we paid for most of these out of our own pockets while paying out the wazoo for health insurance that did nothing for us….nothing but cost us a small fortune.
You can read more about HSA’s here and here. It is my hope that this info will help other families have access to better health care at a more affordable rate.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
August 29th, 2007 at 6:36 pm
So are you still paying for all your healthcare, but now at least you’re getting the tax break people who work for large corps get? Is there a limit on the tax deduction? What happens in Dec, do you have to use all the money or can you roll it over?
Cool new site. The Ads look great.
August 29th, 2007 at 7:07 pm
I think we are switching to this. That last two years have been killers with babies being born and no coverage.
August 29th, 2007 at 7:23 pm
The money does roll over, and you don’t have to use it all up like a traditional MSA (medical savings acount.) You can put into it the amount up to your deductible. Ours is 4000.00, but we paid a little extra for a benefit that covers all but 400.00 of our deductible if we are in any type of accident that requires hospitalization. After you reach your deductible it pays 100%. It has been criticized by some, but the general idea seems to be that it is good for folks who are healthy, and don’t require maintenance drugs, and ongoing care.
My only beef is that it is going on seven weeks since we switched, and I am still waiting to get our bank card. But that is an insurance company for you!!
August 29th, 2007 at 7:26 pm
Oh, and thanks Tracee! Yes, it is one of the few things Bush did to help out the little guy. He promised SO much more, but I suppose he could have done nothing at all. I’m just glad to reap this one small benefit.
August 29th, 2007 at 10:25 pm
Not to start a new subject, but ya know, those tax breaks made a lot of sense, I have no idea why so many people attacked him for it (or just couldn’t figure them out).
Basic high school economics. It’s late, but I’ll give my shorthand version here.
Businesses and the rich + April 15 (or October) = lots of taxes
Too much tax burden=less spending elsewhere.
Less spending=less development, less venture, less expansion
Less venture, less expansion=less jobs
Now, lessen the tax burden, and business gets a bit more frisky.
Sure, there are some businesses that will horde it, but thank God there are enough sensible capitalists which will seize further opportunity and the profits while the gettins’ good (more opportunity for the masses).
‘Night all…
-A
August 29th, 2007 at 10:31 pm
Yes, if you go to the IRS website and download the demographics for personal income taxation, a surprisingly low % of Americans pay a surprisingly high % of tax. In fact, people below an income bracket can end up not being taxed at all, but then have a distribution paid to them on top of no liability, but socialism is cool, so…. The big secret is that the uber-rich invest in muni-bonds, which are tax free from the Feds. Headquarter yourself in a state like Nevada or Texas and you don’t pay income on your earnings. Compute 5% on 1,000,000,000 per annum. I need to go home.
August 30th, 2007 at 7:32 am
Well, hello there ‘count copula!