HSA for America Sees Surge in Companies Embracing High-deductible Health Insurance Plans For Workers

April 12, 2011 - PRLog -- With rapidly increasing costs for both health insurance and medical care, businesses are turning to high-deductible coverage for employees.  HSA for America is supporting the growth in Health Savings Accounts with options that help the insured stop paying for health care they may not use while helping employers cut their benefit spending.  HSA for America is providing a live Question & Answer Telephone Seminar on Friday, April 15 at 2 PM Eastern and free registration is available at http://www.health--savings--accounts.com/.

The move to high-deductible plans may seen to shift the burden of out-of-control medical inflation away from employers and onto the shoulders of workers, but it’s possible to manage health care costs more efficiently to help both sides of the equation.

For example, Atlanta Medical Center has been moving its 1,000 plus staff into plans with higher deductibles.  Fifty-one percent of its employees now own Health Savings Accounts that work in conjunction with a qualified high-deductible health plan.  To facilitate the transition, the hospital has put hundreds of extra dollars in its employees’ Health Savings Accounts.

The move meant lower premium costs for the hospital, more funding to cover deductibles for the employees and, ultimately, better management of health care costs overall.  With health care reform, preventive care services are 100 percent covered before the deductible is met.  In situations where employees need no other care, low-deductible health plans would have paid insurance companies higher premiums for medical services never rendered.

According to the medical center’s chief human resources officer, “Instead of paying an insurance company for care they may or may not use, employees can sock away tax-free money in a Health Savings Account to pay for future medical expenses.  Troy Bond says, “We’re just giving thousands of dollars away to insurance companies.”

Some employees see it the same way.  One of the hospital’s contract administrators, Andrea Sweeten, was happy to switch to a high-deductible plan.  At age 45, she paid $260 every two weeks for herself and her 18-year-old daughter’s coverage even though they rarely went to the doctor.  She says, “To me, it was money I was wasting.”

With a $2,400-deductible plan, she now pays $62 and saves the extra money in an HSA, which can be used to fund services not covered by conventional health insurance.  Sweeten plans to use her savings for laser eye surgery.  Other employees have had similar experiences.

Assistant trauma coordinator Emily Page had to be convinced, but now likens her HSA to her 401(k).  At 44, she and her husband have saved almost $8,000 since starting their HSA three years ago.  That’s a great help with two daughters to raise.

That feeling is catching on rapidly.  Nationwide, about 22 million people have Health Savings Accounts according to the head of health research at the Employee Benefit Research Institute.  Instead of paying insurance companies for medical care they may or may not use, more people are savings on low premiums from high-deductible plans and investing the savings in an HSA where their earnings are not taxed.  To help people learn how to get more for their health care dollars, HSA for America is hosting a live Q & A Teleseminar on Friday, April 15 at 2 PM Eastern.  Free registration is available on a limited-space basis at http://www.health--savings--accounts.com/.

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About HSA for America:

When Health Savings Accounts became available in 2004, HSA for America quickly became the recognized expert on this new form of health coverage and has grown to become the nation's leading independent online HSA expert. With options for individual, family and small business coverage, HSA for America provides comprehensive educational resources regarding HSA plans and conventional health insurance plans at http://www.health--savings--accounts.com/.

HSA for America also provides immediate access to licensed health insurance professionals at 1-866-749-2039 from 9 AM through 11 PM Eastern, along with instructions for establishing an HSA. Additional resources to reduce the cost of health care are available at http://www.health--savings--accounts.com/member-benefits.htm.