Zephyr is the Shiznik asked:


We just switched insurance types from typical insurance, to insurance that has a “Health Savings Account” with it, and increased prices for doctor visits, etc. My employer put $600 in the savings account, and I must put $600 more in before I’m fully covered. I’ll be covered before I have the baby, but it seems like I’ll thn only have $1200 to spend on medical bills this year. Granted, it rolls over to the next year, but once it’s gone, it’s gone. Anyone else have any experience with this? I wanted to ask the insurance guy who came to my job to explain everything, but no one yet knows I’m preggo, and I didn’t want to spill the beans until I’m out of the 1st tri. BTW, this plan is through Coventry. Thanks ahead of time for any info!!
Yes, they were quite clear on that. Not to mention that if we REALLY need money, we can withdraw from the account (which collects interest as well), though we would have to pay a %10 penalty if audited. It SOUNDS good.. but I’m afraid to run out of money!!

Joshua

srsly? asked:


Per a divorce decree, my ex is to pay for an insurance policy for our child and I am to pay half of what is owed from appointments and prescriptions. This worked for 3 years until….

>>My ex got a health savings account which apparently causes me to pay full price for every appointment and medication my son needs.

Am I am paying toward some enormous deductible, likely meant to cover his whole family, or am I paying into a savings account that he and his new family will benefit from? or both?!!

I’ve read a bit about HSA’s but I’m afraid I don’t fully understand the concept.

Any info or recommendations are welcome.

Thank you thank you so so so much.

Lauren

Arby asked:


We are looking at “self employment,” or retirement. A high deductible medical insurance seems our most likely avenue for health insurance. We’d like to pay for it with pre-tax dollars. We both participated in cafeteria plans while fully employed.

(I already read the Wikipedia article on the subject, so please don’t post it again.)

Tiffany

bethbird1960 asked:


Hiltle killed the imperfect disabled with the jews because they burdened society. Putting the price of healthcare too high to reach and punishing the sick can cause them to lack care and die. They cannot take cost of taxes due to low income and yet too high of cost for insurance that denies care anyway is a problem and health savings account are not saveable due to paying for what health care they can including medications and higher uncontrolled prices. Are we a country of Hitlers running insurance companies? The dollar is the god here.
note to American Woman:

I myself cannot afford insurance and was working 60-80 hours a week to pay for ongoing care while not being able to pay for the medications I needed. I used 35% of my income for them alone not to mention blood levels and counts to see if I was okay. Employers would read the healthform for your insurance and you would be left go with no explanation. This is a issue of what to do to help those in need without judgement and keep them working. I ended up on social security when medicaid denied me and I had no money to pay premiums or medication costs allowing me to get very ill.
I would give anything to be able to be in a position to not let this happen to anyone again. I would be sure to set up the programs with overlapping features to save money and to direct a person to Pharm programs if just over the limit which current ones do not. Doctors could cooperate with the states allowing them to give their patients medications and save money toward the doctors fees instead. Now with a deduction on top in taxes to cover is more than I had, but there could be even more done synergistically so Federal and State programs do not respend monies and are streamlined to work with open communications, but secure ones.

Shirley

netjr asked:


Democrats and republicans both have “solutions” to health care. The democrats are more far reaching wanting to extend health insurance to everyone and the republicans want to make health care less expensive with savings accounts and tort reform. But neither of them is addressing the real problem - there is a shortage of health care professionals and facilities in this country. People are already waiting for health care services and now were suppose to extend services to the millions of people who are uninsured too? Why won’t they fix the supply before increasing the demand?

Bruce

bgznkitties asked:


What is the 2009 Health Savings Account contribution limit? I read that it was $3000. but I wanted to be sure.

Harold

L 619 asked:


I used to have Pacific Care HMO from my employer. It was the usual. My payments were deducted from my weekly paychecks. And whenever I needed to go to the doctor, I would just make my appointment, show up, show my insurance card, and pay my $20 co-payment. The insurance would take care of the rest. Simple as that. Now we switched over to a new insurance called United Healthcare PPO. It has an HSA account which stands for Health savings account. They tell me that whenever my money is deducted from my paychecks for health insurance, it goes into my HSA account and that is my money that I have for health costs. They also gave me a debit card for that savings account to use to pay for medical expenses. So pretty much, if I get hurt within the first year of having this insurance, I’m screwed because I wouldn’t have enough to cover the costs. They tell me it’s really good but I don’t buy it. I think my employer went cheap on us. I don’t understand this system and I wish we stayed with the old one. Does anybody else have this insurance? Does anyone have any good information it. Any info would be helpful.

Shannon

Peter W asked:


I would appreciate some comments on the following situation: I live in Los Angeles and have a health savings account and medical insurance with United Healthcare. Recently, I cut my finger and went to the locat ER. I got five stitches and two weeks later, got them removed. I was stunned when I got a bill for $1,500. The ER is IN my network of providers. I got the negotiated rate which was approximately 80% of the full rate. My question is: can I negotiate the $1,500 with the hospital?
Thanks….

Jane

Crystal K asked:


i have recently been diagnosed with ******* herpes, although i have not had a blood test yet to confirm it. I went to walmart to get a prescription of generic valtrex filled and my total came to a ridiculous $244! i can not afford this kind of medication, i told them to just put it back. I have bad insurance, its called a health savings account and apparently it helped a little with the cost of the valtrex (what a joke). i am only 18 years old and will have to live with this the rest of my life, its painful and i feel that i can not have *********** until i am on medication that will reduce the chances of me spreading it. Is there another way to get this medication at a cost that i can actually afford? Or is there a way to make my outbreaks less frequent or painful? If i get medicated i will have less outbreaks, it will lessen my chances of spreading it, and it will reduce my pain and discomfort so i am very desperate. If u have ANY information i will be extremely grateful.
i live in the US

Mark

verentoll asked:


I broke my toe about three months ago (I was pretending to be The Flash and I met my microwave stand nemesis!) and didn’t head into the doctor’s office. Foolish, I know! I didn’t tape it to another toe either, and it healed incorrectly. I’m assuming the bone healed wrong because it still hurts if I put my full weight on it. I have no health insurance because I’m in a job transition, but I do have a Health Savings Account with a bit of money in it. I’m financially strapped right now, so I can’t afford anything, and the crux of my issue is whether I should wait until I find a new job (and continue limping around) or hope I have enough money to pay for the whole thing with what’s left in my HSA account. Problem is it’s hard to gauge prices!

Lisa