Health insurance

Right! Just negotiate the cost and pay cash! I was talking with a gal in the business office of the hospital, and right out of the gate, they knock the bill down 75% if paying cash! And that is without haggling over the price! Goes to show that this whole government / insurance controlled nonsense is a scam and they sure have the majority of people fooled.

Your HSA, you should have been able to pay right out of it! Maybe your insurance didn't have maternity provision, but you can use HSA money to pay for stuff that isn't even mentioned in your insurance. Even some over the counter stuff. If it is medical in any way, dental, or vision, I pay with the HSA. And I don't have dental or vision insurance.

 

I don't spend any money out of my HSA. I make the max contribution each year, have it in mutual funds, and plan to use it as a retirement account. I save all my medical receipts. You can reimburse yourself for any qualified expenses from the HSA account tax free at any time even years later. Once you reach retirement age you can pull the money out tax free for any reason. To me it is better than an IRA because you can access the money at anytime by reimbursing yourself for medical expenses or if you have a medical emergency it is there for you. We have been doing this for five years and the HSA has over 40k in it now.

 

How do you set up a HSA?

 

You have to have a qualifying HDHP (high deductible health plan) and then you open up your HSA account wherever you want. I have mine at HSA Bank and have it invested in vanguard funds. Most brokerages and banks offer them but HSA Bank was the only one I found that offered low fees and vanguard funds.

My health plan is with blue cross blue shield but any plan that says HSA eligible will work.

 

Yeah, it is that simple. I have a HDHP Blue Cross plan also that is HSA compatible. I use my Credit Union for the HSA. No fees. There are a lot of options for doing this.

 

Is it instead of health insurance and you pay into it like a savings acct?

 

You have health insurance it just has a big deductible. You pay into your savings account (tax deduction on he amount you put in) and then you can use it for your medical expenses but there is underlying insurance for major things. You just cover the small stuff on your own.

Here is a good read explaining how they work

http://m.aol.com/article/2014/12/08/hsas-101-what-you-need-to-know-about-how-hsas-work/21002958/

 

Who is your provider?

 

Glad we are discussing the solution instead of arguments
... This is the way America should reason together, we have a problem with our health care system what should we do?

 

It doesn't work that way every where or with everybody. Yes, the medical profession gouges at every turn. This is in Tifton GA.: I'll name the town-screw them. If you need the local hospital don't expect to get the deduction that cowpie 1 received. A couple years back I could have used the services of a local surgeon. His fee for the surgery only was $12,000. I didn't have insurance then, so for cash, the price would have been $3,000. Unfortunately until you are in a pickle you won't know what kind of a break in price you can get. Jul. 29th I learned I had a kidney stone. The er was $8400 (1 am to 5 am). A farmer friend is self pay. He needed his inhaler that he used at home. The hospital provided one (for $500). He needed to be moved to another room for more care. The hospital moved his inhaler with him and charged another $500 for the same used inhaler. BTW he fussed with the hospital and they refused to change the price.