In the Kitchen asked:


For months my employer has talked about switching to a Health Savings Account form of insurance. Last week a new card came in the mail showing the plan has been switched as of a few weeks ago. No announcement has been made from the HR department…we weren’t given any options to opt-out or anything. The deductible is $3000. Is this the normal procedure for switching plans? I just got meds …a couple of days before the card came…and made the co-pay under the old plan as instructed by the pharmacy. Now what?
Our health card says Health Savings Accounts (PPO).

It seems unfair to have to pay for an expensive med if we weren’t told the price the day we picked it up and no one told us that plan had changed.
Apparently there are no more co-pays.

Dana

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

John D asked:


With a Health Savings Account (HSA), under normal circumstances, I understand that I can make a qualified withdrawal at any time, in the year of the qualified expense or in later years. Also I can make a contribution to my HSA for the previous year up until April 15. My question is how these rules apply since I got married late last year in November and added my wife to my insurance then. Can I now make withdrawals based on medical expenses she had prior to our marriage? I know for tax-filing purposes, it is only my marriage status on the last day of the year that determines whether I file single or married. Anyone have information on this? In June, I paid $2,000 in medical expenses for my wife (fiance at the time). I’d like to know if I can now make a withdrawal from my HSA for that $2,000. I look forward to your answers!

Jacob

Whoa_Phat asked:


My employer is changing over to a High Deductible Health Plan and therefore must cancel my Flexible Spending Account in favor of a Health Savings Account. Our HR department is refusing to roll over my balance on my FSA into a HSA.
What happens to the unused portion of my contributions to the Spending Account? If I go with this plan, my wife will also be on the insurance and will lose her contribution to her FSA.
Am I eligible to use my entire years allotment? Or do we lose our $150.00 we have already contributed?

Pedro

Lonestar asked:


Health Savings Accounts -
This is where you can set aside up to $2,900 every year in a special tax-free savings account. The money is allowed to cumulate year after year. This is before tax money. Then, with this money sitting in your HSA you can go out and buy a high-deductible health insurance policy that will be much less expensive than the policy you have today. You can then use the HSA money for your medical care and let the high-deductible health insurance policy kick in much later.

Sounds like a good idea right? Well … here come the Democrats. Democrats have made affordable health care a mainstay of their election agenda, but apparently only if you’re willing to get insurance through the government.

Democrats don’t like Health Savings Accounts. And why not? Because when you have that money stashed away for medical expenses, and when you can afford to buy a high-deductible health insurance policy, you won’t be standing around screaming for the government to do something …

Hector

kirunkmir asked:


if a plan offers the following…what does it mean?

Full Coverage POS with no Rx Self-Employed People and Small Business Owners

Atlantis Health Plan AM Best Rating: NR-5 Plan Type Deductible Coinsurance Office Visit
POS $0 0% $20

$558.24
Monthly Premium

No Application FeeElectronic SignatureNo Prescription Drug CoverageMaternity Coverage AvailableNot Eligible for Health Savings Account (HSA)

Does it seemtobe a good plan?

Carrie

Lisa asked:


I worked at a job who had a ppo insurance plan. October 30th I started a new job with a high deductable health savings plan. The plan has a 1,050 deductible, after that everything is paid for. My company gives a contribution of $800 a year, but since I started in October I only have $136 in my health savings account.
Well then I got sick and had to see a dr. I just paid for it because I didn’t see the need to deal with it. Then I had a severe allergic reaction to the medication and had to return two more times, with IV’s and other expensive what nots. Then I got home and discovered I was still covered by my old employer’s insurance until November 30th. I called the clinic and had them file the claims with that insurance seeing as how it benefited me better that way (at this point I had also given them my current employers card seeing as how the deductable was getting there). They refunded my money, but I’ve heard this was the wrong thing to do. What am I supposed to do??

Mike