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Any one have an HSA and/or CDHP Healthcare plan?

Pesqueeb

Pesqueeb

bicycle in airplane hangar
Feb 2, 2007
42,372
19,898
Riding past the morgue.
Long story short, the airline I work for has announced that everyone is being forced into a high deductible health care plan by 2012. The "benefits" people are showing up at the hangar tonight for a Q&A. I've done an immense amount of research on my own in addition to what I learned about health care because of my accident, but I'm wondering if anyone here has had any experiences with such a setup. I'm particularly interested in any of the more obscure rules/regulations/loop holes in such plans. Things that might not be readily apparent about such plans just reading online.
kthnxby.
 
jonKranked

jonKranked

Detective Dookie
Nov 10, 2005
89,399
27,622
media blackout
Brush up your resume and start looking.


edit: Not trying to sound like a dick, but this is a major red flag indicator of an employer that doesn't really give 2 sh*ts about their employees, and more or less views them as expendable.
 
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Pesqueeb

Pesqueeb

bicycle in airplane hangar
Feb 2, 2007
42,372
19,898
Riding past the morgue.
jonKranked said:
Brush up your resume and start looking.


edit: Not trying to sound like a dick, but this is a major red flag indicator of an employer that doesn't really give 2 sh*ts about their employees, and more or less views them as expendable.
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Way ahead of you brother. I requested my college transcripts the day this was announced, its back to school time. I've already had my employer try to throw me under the bus by canceling my insurance while I was out after my accident. I, more than anyone at work, is aware that management could care less. Coincidentally, my transcripts showed up today. I think its a sign.
 
ohio

ohio

The Fresno Kid
Nov 26, 2001
6,649
26
SF, CA
I had an HSA. As a young healthy male that either has catastrophic injuries or nothing at all, it made sense. Plus it was a way to potentially invest another $2500/yr tax-free.

I ruptured my achilles. I paid my $2500 deductible and expected them to cover everything after that. Blue Shield CA can suck my ****ing balls. I have been battling for a year with them over what they claim is additional deductible I owe them. The problem is the structure makes you complacent... I forked over the first $2500 willingly and they already have that. Now they keep making wierd circular arguments that make no sense, but at the end of the day it's either pay up (originally $13000, now down to about $2000) or face providers reporting me to collection agencies.

Additionally, the HSA encourages bad behavior, like not going to the doctor until its too late for a cold that turns into pneumonia (or a mole to cancer, or an infection to a lost limb, you get the idea), because you don't want to pay for the full visit.

Never again. Terrible structure.
 
J-Dubs

J-Dubs

Monkey
Jul 10, 2006
700
1
Salem, MA
I had a high deductible plan last year and it worked out horribly. First, my deductibles were $3k-In network, and $6k-Out of network. Humana can eat my poo.
Long story short, I broke C-6 and C-7 riding me bike on 9/3/08, went to Beverly, MA hospital, got Transfered to Beth Israel Deaconess Med Center in Boston, MA after the CT scans revealed the trauma. A quick 20 mile ambulance ride.
$3k deductible got eaten up real fast, but the kicker was the ambulance ride. The closest in-network ambulance provider that Humana has is at the Boston Children's hospital.
$1600+ later, and I'm fighting with Humana to cover the ride due to the fact that they are unable to provide service within a reasonable distance. You can guess who won that battle. Not the consumer sitting at home in the neck brace.
And then there is the issue with coding and their ability to make most things billable to your deductible. Especially next calendar year, when they reset your deductible, despite only being covered for 5 months.
Follow-up visits that are coded as "an x-ray with doctor's evaluation" are different than "a doctor's visit with an x-ray". Guess which one you have to pay for out of pocket as an outpatient service, even though you're at the doctor's hospital office. They just keep finding ways to screw you and there is no protection for you. They are the judge and jury when it comes to interpretations and awards. You're only option is litigation, which costs the same if not more than the bills.

Factor in the deductibles as a real cost to get the true expense of the suggested plan. Then run away, far away.
 
CRoss

CRoss

Turbo Monkey
Nov 20, 2006
1,329
0
The Ranch
My high deductable has worked out great. I had a $2500 deductible. I had a compound fracture of my forearm in a DH race. It required a 2 hour ambulance ride to the nearest hospital for surgery. Once my deductible was paid everything was covered. I did not pay anything for doctors visits or PT. 5 days after the doc saying my arm was healed I had a minor crash and rebroke(new doc said my arm was not healed) my arm and bent one of the plates. I had to get another surgery and some more pt. Once again I had to pay nothing since I had met my deductible for the year. I could not get upset for my insurance raising my deductible $500 the next year. The following year I went to the ER for a stomach virus and had another small ER visit. So in July when I blew out my ACL I needed to pay for $300 of the MRI and I had met my deductable for the year. A week later I had knee surgery and started 6 months of PT twice a week. I did not pay for anything after the last $300 for the MRI.

For me this is the perfect plan. I only go the the doctor when needed. This plan has worked out wonderful and is not expensive at $110 a month.
 
J-Dubs

J-Dubs

Monkey
Jul 10, 2006
700
1
Salem, MA
Silver said:
You should have shopped around better to find better prices.

Or just died. Either way works...

(I'm not kidding, either. I'm just parroting the Republican/Glibertarian line of effective healthcare policy thinking.)
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I would have but that was one of only two plans my employer was offering. Paying four times as much for the other plan would have only halved my deductibles.

Free market my ass.
 
Silver

Silver

find me a tampon
Jul 20, 2002
10,840
1
Orange County, CA
J-Dubs said:
I would have but that was one of only two plans my employer was offering. Paying four times as much for the other plan would have only halved my deductibles.

Free market my ass.
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If we had a free market, just think of how many bad and expensive insurance plans you'd be able to buy. Regulation is to blame.
 
CRoss

CRoss

Turbo Monkey
Nov 20, 2006
1,329
0
The Ranch
J-Dubs said:
I would have but that was one of only two plans my employer was offering. Paying four times as much for the other plan would have only halved my deductibles.

Free market my ass.
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Did you look outside of what your employer was offering?
 
dante

dante

Unabomber
Feb 13, 2004
8,807
9
looking for classic NE singletrack
CRoss said:
My high deductable has worked out great. I had a $2500 deductible. I had a compound fracture of my forearm in a DH race. It required a 2 hour ambulance ride to the nearest hospital for surgery. Once my deductible was paid everything was covered. I did not pay anything for doctors visits or PT. 5 days after the doc saying my arm was healed I had a minor crash and rebroke(new doc said my arm was not healed) my arm and bent one of the plates. I had to get another surgery and some more pt. Once again I had to pay nothing since I had met my deductible for the year. I could not get upset for my insurance raising my deductible $500 the next year. The following year I went to the ER for a stomach virus and had another small ER visit. So in July when I blew out my ACL I needed to pay for $300 of the MRI and I had met my deductable for the year. A week later I had knee surgery and started 6 months of PT twice a week. I did not pay for anything after the last $300 for the MRI.

For me this is the perfect plan. I only go the the doctor when needed. This plan has worked out wonderful and is not expensive at $110 a month.
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So, correct me if I'm wrong, but you ended up paying $2500 the first year, $3000 the second year, and $100/month for this "privilege"? So a total of almost $8k over two years? :eek:

I'm not saying that any other plan would necessarily have been better (in the end), but YIKES that was stupidly expensive...
 
kidwoo

kidwoo

Artisanal Tweet Curator
Aug 25, 2003
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dante said:
So, correct me if I'm wrong, but you ended up paying $2500 the first year, $3000 the second year, and $100/month for this "privilege"? So a total of almost $8k over two years? :eek:

I'm not saying that any other plan would necessarily have been better (in the end), but YIKES that was stupidly expensive...
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Ask him how much his parents were involved :rofl:
 
CRoss

CRoss

Turbo Monkey
Nov 20, 2006
1,329
0
The Ranch
Parents were not involved at all.

$8k is a lot better than the $100k it would have cost without the insurance.
 
Pesqueeb

Pesqueeb

bicycle in airplane hangar
Feb 2, 2007
42,372
19,898
Riding past the morgue.
kidwoo said:
"Thank you sir may I have another?" :rofl:
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Exactly. I love how my employer continues to spin the whole CDHP thing as "another improvement to your benefits package". Total out of pocket for the plan is 6000 dollars including the 2400 deductible. The year I got hit I had Pacificare and I spent just under 5000 in copay's. Tell me how having to spend an extra grand and have sh!ttier service is an improvement. :twitch:
 
kidwoo

kidwoo

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Aug 25, 2003
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dante said:
The question wasn't between $8k and $100k, the question is would you have been better off with a traditional health care plan...
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And an additional question that I discuss quite a lot with a surgeon friend of mine is what would that 100k cost be if providers didn't have to fight insurance companies for payment all the time?


Sorry for the tangent.........
 
ridiculous

ridiculous

Turbo Monkey
Jan 18, 2005
2,907
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MD / NoVA
Yeah HDCP + HSA seems to be great if you dont get injured, dont get sick, and for the most part healthy.

Im on a similar plan where I work. The overall health care is fine from what I hear from the people who have had emergencies and major operations this year. They paid their deductable and everything was covered after that. Most of the complaints Ive heard are from the people that take medicines routinely as our prescription insurance under our plan hardly helps anything.
 
kidwoo

kidwoo

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Aug 25, 2003
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ridiculous said:
Yeah HDCP + HSA seems to be great if you dont get injured, dont get sick, and for the most part healthy.
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And then we've got cases like a good friend of mine who had lymphoma around his heart who had one of these plans. After covering his 6k deductible, Blue Shield denied the recommended treatment as 'experimental', even though it had been in use by stanford medical for almost a decade. His recovery and complete remission sure was a successful 'experiment'.

CRoss should be stoked though. With the coming health care reform he doesn't have to change a thing about his plan.
 
CRoss

CRoss

Turbo Monkey
Nov 20, 2006
1,329
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kidwoo said:
And an additional question that I discuss quite a lot with a surgeon friend of mine is what would that 100k cost be if providers didn't have to fight insurance companies for payment all the time?


Sorry for the tangent.........
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I think this is the real question that should be addressed with health care reform.


So some of you think my healthcare is a rip off. It works for me. Sure I could have another more traditional plan. To me it would cost more and I would not get any additional benefits.
 
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