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April 26, 2011
Health Savings Accounts Are Now Available To Public Employees
Over the years, Health Savings Account plans were never offered to public employees. With the recently passed legislation, a health savings account option with a qualified high-deductible HSA health plan is now available to public employees, too. This law allows state workers to have more control over their health care costs and their savings.
To be used with an HSA, health insurance must have an annual deductible of at least $1,200 for individuals and annual out-of-the-pocket expenses are limited to $5,950. Like most high-deductible HSA plans, these policies are considerably less expensive than most co-pay plans.
In addition to a way to save on health insurance premiums, HSA plans offer another advantage. You can set aside money in your Health Savings Account tax free and earn tax-free interest on it. If you need it for qualified medical expenses, just withdraw it to pay bills and it's still tax free. If you don't need it, let it grow until you retire and then you can spend it for anything you like. You will have to pay taxes on it then if you use it for anything other than qualified medical care, but you can keep the tax-free advantage and continue to use it for qualified health care. That includes a wide range of services, such as alternative medicine, dental, physical therapy, and a lot more.
HSA plans are available from the leading insurers, including Aetna, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Cigna, Humana, Nationwide, and many others. It's easy to compare premiums with our instant quote engine and you can find lots more resources here to help you decide whether an HSA plan is right for you.
Posted by Wiley Long at 10:32 AM | Comments (0)
April 22, 2011
Investments In Health Savings Accounts Now Exceed $10 Billion
According to research by Devenir, Health Savings Accounts exceeded $10 billion in total deposits by the end of 2010. By 2015, Health Savings Account balances are expected to reach $61 billion in assets.
To take advantage of the benefits offered by these accounts, you need one of the qualified high-deductible health plans. Deductibles on HSA plans range from $1,200 to $5,950 for singles and between $2,400 and $11,900 for families.
A Health Savings Account (HSA) plan allows you to deposit tax-deductible funds into an HSA that you can use to cover qualified medical costs until your deductible has been met. If you do not need to use the contributions for that year, your money just carries over to the next year and continues to grow quickly with tax-free earnings.
Since the insurance plans that work with Health Savings Accounts have high deductibles, the premiums are typically 30 to 40 percent less than premiums for standard co-pay plans. That can definitely help you save money on premiums and you can also save by owing less income tax. With premiums scheduled for regular increases, the chance to keep your premiums low may be worth "its weight in gold."
Learn more about Health Savings Accounts and HSA insurance plans on our website at: http://www.health--savings--accounts.com/
Posted by Wiley Long at 11:20 AM | Comments (0)
April 18, 2011
A Health Savings Account Acts Like A Medical IRA
With an IRA, you can't get to your money until you're 65, but with a Health Savings Account (HSA), you can use those funds for qualified medical expenses whenever needed and still earn tax-free interest on whatever is left until you turn 65. One of the best things about having an HSA is that your funds roll over at yearend. You never lose the balance like you do with a Flexible Spending Account.
However, there are some limitations with an HSA. Health Savings Accounts have a maximum yearly contribution limit of $3,050 for individual coverage and $6,150 for family coverage. No contribution is every required, but you may make an additional $1,000 contribution each year if your are at least 55 years old.
Up to those limits, your contribution is tax deductible whether you need the money for medical care or not. You don't even need to itemize deductions at take advantage of that. It's called an "above the line" deduction. Almost all states follow the federal government on this and allow you to take a state tax deduction for your HSA contributions, too.
To set up an HSA, the law requires that the savings account be combined with certain high-deductible health insurance plans. These plans must have a minimum deductible of $1,200 for self-only coverage or $2,400 for family coverage. On our website, it's quick and easy to see rates for HSA-qualified insurance plans. You can learn about starting your HSA and selecting an HSA administrator here, too.
Posted by Wiley Long at 12:02 PM | Comments (0)
April 14, 2011
Health Savings Accounts Help You Control Your Health Care Costs
With Health Savings Accounts, people can become more proactive when it comes to making their own health care choices. An HSA plan allows you to contribute money to a savings account that earns tax-free interest. Then, you can tap that money for future medical expenses and the withdrawals are also tax-free as long as you buy a type of health care that is qualified to work with an HSA. That list is pretty long and includes many services that traditional health insurance doesn't cover, like dental care.
Before you can start an HSA, you must have a high-deductible health plan and not just any plan will do. Be sure to get a plan that is qualified to be combined with an HSA. These two always go hand-in-hand. As of 2011, high-deductible plans must have a minimum deductible of $1,200 for individual coverage or $2,400 for family coverage to be used in combination with an HSA.
The maximum yearly HSA contribution allowed is up to $3,050 for an individual HSA plan and $6,150 for a family HSA plan for both 2010 and 2011. If you are 55 or older, you can deposit an additional $1,000 every year in what are known as "catch up" contributions.
Once you turn 65, HSA withdrawals can be made for any purpose. Until then, though, you'll have a 20 percent penalty for using HSA funds for anything other than qualified health care. Any funds you don't need for health care just roll over from year to year and continue to grow quickly with tax-free earnings. That makes an HSA very similar to IRAs. You can learn more about how much you could save with your own HSA right here on our website.
Posted by Wiley Long at 09:24 AM | Comments (0)
April 10, 2011
Feds Still Evasive About Using Health Savings Account For Medicaid Expansion
Federal Medicaid officials are still non-committal regarding the issueof whether or not they will allow the use of health savings accounts to continue after the program Healthy Indiana Plan or HIP expires on December 31, 2012. Due to this, the administration asked the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services (CMS), which is given 60 days to respond, to agree to the amended state plan under the new federal law. If the CMS approves, this would then allow the current HIP program to cover the expansions in Medicaid.
At present, the HIP program provides up to $500 in preventive care alone such as screening procedures for cancer, $1,100 to medical savings accounts, and benefits of at least $300,000 to 45,000 enrollees. Using an HSA program will indemnify uninsured adults who have low incomes. The coverage would only cost about $100 annually.
The state performed a cost analysis that shows that the enhanced HIP would cost 44% more as compared to the traditional Medicaid program. To meet with the requirements of the expanded Medicaid, HIP would have to add services such as vision, dental, and maternity benefits. According to the Medicaid expansion, it would be the federal government who will pay for all the medical costs of the new enrollees for the first three years. Getting an affordable HSA plan can be the solution for low-income individuals while the HIP program is still being debated.
Health savings accounts are special accounts where you can place pre-tax money aside to pay for future medical expenses. Anyone who has a qualifying high deductible health plan (HDHP) can have an HSA. Plans that are qualified to be combined with an HSA are available from Aetna, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Cigna, Humana, Nationwide, and many others. Not only will you be saving your money tax-free, but you will also be protecting your health as well.
Posted by Wiley Long at 09:26 AM | Comments (0)
April 05, 2011
Considerable Increase in Health Savings Account Clients Reported by Fidelity Investments
Fidelity Investments® recently reported that there was a very significant 52% increase in clients getting Health Savings Accounts last year. This increase was attributed to clients taking advantage of the tax deferred medical account service being offered by having an HSA plan. According to William Applegate, the vice president of HSA products of Fidelity Investments, consumers are utilizing HSA plans to manage the continued increase of medical costs.
Analysis showed that there are different contribution rates as well as spending behaviors noted from Fidelity’s Health Savings Account participants. Nearly half of them had at least $2,500 as their contribution and 17% had more than $5,000. The maximum Health Savings Account contribution allowed for individuals is only $3,050 and $6,150 is allowed for families. The participants were also categorized into three categories: Spenders, Hybrids, and Savers. Savers use less than 10% of their annual HSA contributions and invest the remaining balance for future medical expenses while Spenders use up to more than 90% of their contributions.
To be able to take advantage of the benefits of an HSA plan, it must be coupled with a high-deductible health plan. High-deductible health insurance costs less than the traditional low-deductible coverage because the insurance company does not have to process and pay claims for routine, low-dollar medical care. Having an HSA with an HDHP could significantly lower heath insurance premiums. These high deductibles start at $1,200 for individual coverage and $2,400 for family coverage.
HSA plans are made available through many trusted insurance companies such as Aetna HSA, Blue Cross Blue Shield HSA, Cigna HSA, Humana HSA and many more. Just as with other forms of health insurance, you can compare premiums online with instant quotes on the high-deductible health plans that are qualified to work with an HSA.
Posted by Wiley Long at 09:24 AM | Comments (0)
April 01, 2011
Health Savings Accounts Are A Great Option For Employers
With the advent of Health Savings Accounts, high-deductible health plans became more attractive to employees. Even if they have to pay for high out-of-the-pocket expenses for medical bills before the insurance coverage starts when they meet the deductible, there are advantages. Health Savings Accounts allow consumers to save in order to pay for future qualified medical costs with tax-free earnings and tax-free withdrawals.
Small employers are given two HSA plan options to offer employees. A small-group HSA-qualified plan may help with underwriting concerns for employees who have pre-existing health conditions. On the other hand, if each employee is underwritten individually by getting their own plan, they may be able to keep the insurance policy if they leave the company.
Employers have the option to give fixed monthly contributions to the individual or family HSA accounts of their employees. The contributions are tax-deductible on the employer’s part and are not included in the gross income of employees. If the employee decides to leave, the contributions made by the employer stay with the employee.
Many insurance companies, such as Blue Cross Blue Shield, offer HSA plans, but it is best to keep your HSA administrator separate from your insurance company. That way, you can switch HSA-qualified health insurance without having to change administration on your HSA. That's important because you might want to change your high-deductible health plan to get a lower rate since premiums are increasing often.
Posted by Wiley Long at 05:23 AM | Comments (0)