Coffee Party, Tea Party…..it is clear that we the people of the United States are upset with government at all levels, don’t feel represented, and don’t feel that government is working for our best interests.
The way our government leaders are handling healthcare reform is representative of this. A plan was hashed out among the lawmakers—without much input or support from “we the people.” Then our President attempted to ram it through, with threats that if we didn’t do it his way, then we’d have nothing at all and be “left” with our current situation.
I’m sorry. This is not reality. Nothing ever stays the same. The fact that the issue is being discussed creates change. The debate in and of itself develops our thinking and creates a certain amount of change from the process. Our expectations evolve and we make change with the actions we take and the decisions we make.
I am very satisfied with my current health insurance situation……even though I am unemployed (or recently self-employed, depending on how you or I choose to view it.)
My insurance is low cost, covers what needs to be covered, gives me full flexibility to access the health care providers I want to see, and is fully portable if I change employers or decide to remain self-employed.
After years of health insurance that didn’t cover most of my expenses, with many, many visits to doctors who didn’t have the training to advise me on the chronic condition I struggled with, and multiple lab tests and invasive procedures that helped nothing, I turned to a Health Savings Account with a high-deductible medical insurance plan.
I am very happy with this. And I think the HSA plans may be the answer to our health insurance dilemma.
When I was young (almost 50 years ago), we didn’t expect medical insurance to pay all of our healthcare expenses. Somewhere along the line, we traded choosing our providers and making our medical decisions with the HMO model, minimal co-payments for office visits, and little or no relationship with our providers. I don’t think this was a good trade.
With the HSA model, because I’m paying doctor visits, lab tests and making decisions about the value and need for these services, I am more in control. I have my best interests at heart, and those who have their own interests are no longer making my decisions for me.
The money I deposit into my HSA savings account to cover these expenses is tax deductible, an investment that I also control, but always available to me for future health care needs.
For major medical expenses, I have a 100% coverage hospital plan after only a $3,800 deductible. After only 2 years, I have much more than the plan deductible saved in my HSA account.
I believe we are over using our health and medical care system. It is great that we have advanced technology available to us. Unfortunately, because “it is there” and insurance covers much of it, doctors and other medical providers utilize it more often than necessary. In fact, because of our overly litigious society, they feel obligated and under threat to recommend and encourage more services than are needed.
If you and I take back the decision-making for our own bodies, this will change. A simple way to drive the economics of the medical and health services companies back into reasonable costs and practices is to take back individual control. It is a little-known fact that you can negotiate fees with doctors, hospitals, labs and other health providers—-especially if you are paying, rather than an insurance company.
From my experience as a medical insurance billing service, doctors inflate their prices because they know the insurance companies only pay a portion of the billed fee. So they bill a higher rate to get the money they want to actually receive. As a cash payer, you can pay even lower fees because you lower the doctors office and administration costs.
You and I can make change happen. We don’t need to try to influence congress to initiate these changes……except to ensure that the HSA tax deductions continue.
We can influence big business with how we choose to spend our health and medical care dollars. If we no longer pay for full-coverage insurance plans and expect insurance to pay all our costs, then the money doesn’t flow into the big insurance companies’ coffers.
If we are making the choices for our health care, the companies spending millions of dollars administering HMO plans are not needed (and those nurses can go back to working in doctor offices and hospitals, helping the nursing shortage also!)
To learn more about how HSA accounts work, here are some resources:
- Health Savings Account blog
- Streetwise HSA
- US Treasury – tax implications for HSA accounts
- Kiplinger info about HSA accounts
- Wikipedia info about Health Savings Accounts
HSA accounts are called “consumer directed health plans.” You can take charge of your health, your health care, and your medical insurance with an HSA plan. I did and hope to continue to, without interference by the next great idea put forth by our lawmakers.
