I started a $2,500 HSA account with my bank in Feb. 2006 and a high-deductible $5,000 health insurance policy with Assurant Health. I went through two other insurance companies before settling on this one. I am 63 years-old, recently retired, and did not want to pay high monthly premiums. After age 55, one can make-up deposits for the years before one started the HSA--I believe this year it is $700. I need to know if I can make a deposit for years 2004 and 2005 as well. I do not understand the make-up deposits. Can someone answer this question.

I'm reading with interest, but I don't have a clue how those Health Savings Accounts are supposed to work, nor who provides the catastrophic coverage once it's used up? I once called alll the Insurance Companies I knew of and asked about catastrophic coverage after hearing some GOP pundit spouting about it on TV...the insurance companies gave me a universal "Huh?" Nobody sold it.

I think it's available only to a very limited number of people in certain states???

Csan anyone explain them in depth?

I started a $2,500 HSA account . . .

By HSA do you mean Healthcare Spending Account?

If not, please clarify what HSA stands for.

Once I verify that info, I might be able to help.

You are correct in stating you can contribute an additional $700 for 2006 to your HSA (Health Savings Account) since you are age 55+. You will only be able to contribute the extra amount for the current year - - so you will not be able to contribute extra for 2004/2005. Next year, you will be able to contribute an additional $800 for age 55+. Most of the leading insurance companies are now offering HSA products for both group and individual (self-pay) policies.

I'm not going to claim to know a ton about HSA's, but at your age I'd consider other alternatives. From what I see (which isn't too often) the catastrophic portion wont kick in until you hit about 20 grand depending on policy. I'm 23 and I'd probably go for one if it was available to me but I'd dump it for traditional insurance once i hit 35. People in their 60's are fairly likely to end up spending a day in the cardiac cath lab at some point for example. Best contract I've seen reduces that cost to about 5 thousand. Figure in another out patient procedure after they figure out the problem after the lab and put in an additional 10 thousand for a 2 or 3 day in patient stay for a relatively mild surgery (tack on about 60 thousand for a pacemaker if needed) and you'll hit some hefty levels of payments.

For the benefit of anyone considering an HSA, firstly remember it is your money paying the bill up to probably 10 or 20 thousand a year. There are 2 major schools of thought on negotiating discounts. One is paying a percentage (usually between 60 and 80 percent depending on how many insured a comany has in the area) of the bill. Normally an ER bill hits about 1 to 2 thousand dollars while one day of in patient surgery or in patient medical care will hit about 4 to 5 thousand a day. The other school of thought is paying a set amount per day or per visit. A case rate (as they typicaly refer to per visit outpatient discounts) will be around 600 dollars per ER visit (even if you just took too asprin and left) or around 2500 to 3500 per day for in patient. Decide how much time and care you think you'll need vs your premiums and co pays / co insurances and deductibles and make a smart choice for you.

The above information is not completely accurate. You do have to have
an HDHP (high deductible health plan) to be eligible for an HSA (health
savings account), but a high deductible plan does not necessarily mean
that you are going to be out thousands and thousands of dollars before
the plan pays anything. There are carriers that offer HDHP plans with
deductibles as low as $1500 (possibly lower) with 100% in-network coverage after the deductible is met. On a plan like this, worst case scenario, you would be out $1500 in a year. On an 80/20 plan, you would pay the deductible and then 20% in-network, usually up to a max-out of pocket of $2-3000 -- so even there, worst case scenario would be $3500 or $4500 out of pocket. I don't think HDHP/HSAs are "the answer" to the healthcare
crisis like certain politicians would have you believe, but I do think they are a viable and logical option for certain consumers.

There are carriers that offer HDHP plans with
deductibles as low as $1500 (possibly lower) with 100% in-network coverage after the deductible is met.

What would the monthly premium be on such a plan? If anything less than $500 it would be priced better than any HMO that isn't state subsidized. Can you describe the specifics of such a plan.

The $1500 could hardly be described as "catastrophic" or my HMO at $602/month deals me more than 3 catastrophic blows per year. :D

Remember always that a managed care like an HMO gets fabulous deals on care compared to what you can get so a procedure that costs the HMO $1000 (and still yields profit for all) and you pay $20 could be billed to you directly for $5000, or 10,000.
If you have a horrible indemnity plan that pays 80% you are left paying $2,000 and your only recourse is the courts! That's an advantage that some overlook.

I was billed $42,000 for a single overnight in a hospital after a stent...I am NOT lying. My HMO sent them $1200 and I paid $250 of it for my first night per year. My God, what would I have done if they held ME responsible for such a bill...or even 20% of it!

[QUOTE=Lenin]What would the monthly premium be on such a plan? If anything less than $500 it would be priced better than any HMO that isn't state subsidized. Can you describe the specifics of such a plan.
QUOTE]


Sorry it's taken me so long to reply. I've been out of town and have not checked the board in awhile. At any rate, I ran some quotes on the eHealth website for HSA-eligible plans. I quoted myself (F-31) and got a premium of $181.36/month for a Humana plan - $1500 deductible with 100% coverage in-network and 70% out-of-network. For kicks, I quoted a male, age 50 in a Chicago zip code and got a premium of $274.90/month for the same plan. That plan also has an annual preventive care benefit that is not subject to the deductible. The quote I ran for myself also brought up a United Healthcare plan with a $1050 deductible and 100% in-network coverage for about the same premium. You may want to take a look. You just enter your gender, date of birth, zip code and smoking status and it generates quotes from a number of carriers.