COMPARE AN HSA PLAN TO A TRADITONAL HEALTH PLAN
Assumptions: “Typical” Self-Employed Family. Relatively healthy. 28% tax-bracket. Traditional PPO plan with $3,000 out-of-pocket maximum per person with co-pay features for Dr. visits and Rx. Family HSA plan with partially funded savings account (assumes $3,750/year). 4 Dr. visits for the year ($60 normal billing) and 3 Rx purchases ($28 generic billing). One emergency room visit ($750). Minor out-patient testing ($200). No hospitalizations or surgeries.
NOTE: It is easy to change any of the variables to reflect your own personal situation.
TRADITIONAL
PLAN |
HSA PLAN
|
|||
|
Health Insurance Premiums $1,000 deductible per person 80/20 to $10,000 per person $30 Dr. co-pays/$20 Rx co-pays |
$ 9,000
(750/month)
|
Health Insurance Premiums $7,500 family deductible 100% coverage (no “co-pays” allowed by law) |
$ 3,600
(360/month)
|
|
|
ADD: Dr.
visit co-pays (4 @ $30) Rx
co-pays (3 @ $20) Out-Patient
Tests E.R.
visit (subject to deductible) SUB-TOTAL Note:
only $870 was credited to anyone’s deductible—after deducting $75 “access
fee” from ER visit—and even that was broken down per person . If one person had 2 Dr. visits and 1 Rx,
they paid $80 yet only $0 went to their deductible, because co-pays don’t count
toward deductibles!
|
$ 120 $ 60 $ 600 $ 745 + $ 1,525
|
|
$ 192 $ 105 $ 450 $ 543 + $ 1,290
|
|
|
PRE-TAX TOTAL Out-of-Pocket For Medical Expenses |
= $ 10,525
|
PRE-TAX TOTAL Out-of-Pocket For Medical Expenses |
= $ 4,890
|
|
|
LESS: Tax Savings* $9,000 x 100% x 28%
(100% of health insurance premiums multiplied by 28% tax bracket) |
- $ 2,520
|
Tax Savings* Health
Insurance $3,600 x 28%
HSA
Deposit $5,800 x 28%
(Note: There are 2 ways to get a tax deduction—spending OR saving money—notice that the tax savings in the left-hand column is solely from spending money whereas the majority of the MSA savings is derived from saving money—in the savings account) |
$ 1,008 $ 1,624
- $ 2,632
|
|
|
AFTER-TAX Cost of Medical Care For Year |
$ 8,005
|
AFTER-TAX Cost of Medical Care for Year |
$ 2,258
|
|
|
BALANCE SHEET ANALYSIS ADD BACK: Balance of Savings Account For Medical Expenses (Note: No money saved. It was all paid.) |
$ 0 |
BALANCE SHEET ANALYSIS ADD BACK: Balance of Medical Savings Account ($5,800 contribution
less $1,290 in expenses paid from the account—tax-free)
|
$ 4,510
|
|
|
|
($ 8,005)
|
|
+ $ 2,252
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
*Presumes that at least one family member is eligible to deduct 100% of health insurance premiums as a self-employed individual.
Isn’t
it interesting? The family with the
“traditional” health plan was well-insured, yet ended in the hole to the tune
of over $8 thousand for the year. Meanwhile, the family insured under the HSA
Plan was equally well-insured and actually ended up ahead of the game
for the year on the balance sheet.
How
could this be? It’s simple. It’s the magic of saving money—premiums and taxes. The
family with the HSA cut their insurance premiums dramatically (over $5,000)
and actually stashed ALLof the premiums they saved into a health savings
account, for which they received a substantial tax break! They were willing to assume the risk of
paying all of their little bills while hedging their bet against the
catastrophic loss in a prudent manner.
THREE
YEARS LATER
If
we were to re-visit these two families in three years, what would we
discover? If they each had the same
medical bills for two consecutive years, the “traditional” family would have
a net loss of $24,015 ($8,005 x 3 years) while the “HSA” family would
have a positive balance of $13,530 in their savings account—after all
out-of-pocket expenses had been paid from the account—plus interest (also
tax-free).
But what’s missing? Medical inflation. In reality, based on recent trends, the “traditional” family will experience premium increases averaging at least 15% per year. That adds up to a total of $22,568 paid in gross premiums in just 3 years (9,000 + 10,350 + 11,902 = $31,252)! The “HSA” family can also expect rate increases, but at a much lower amount. That's because even assuming the same rate of inflation, the same percentage increase is applied to a much smaller base amount. Assuming the same 15% annual increase would yield the following: 3,600 + 4,140 + 4,761 = 12,501 in gross premiums paid in those 3 years. Just how much will you throw away in additional health insurance premiums (and taxes) before you seriously consider switching from a high-cost traditional plan to a low-cost HSA plan? |
||||
Back to medical health savings accounts home page
Get a quote for required HDHP
insurance