Chapter 25 – OK, so how many different types of HSA plans are there out there? And how can I help my wife sift through all the choices? And I am really as think as she dumbs I am?

 

I Googled “HDHP” (googled, now that’s a word for the 21^st century for sure) and it brought up 148,000 results. Now not all of those results were for HDHP plans. There is just as much written about them, if not more, as there are plans out there for purchase.

 

To attempt to reconstruct my wife’s experience, I went to the website that I had recommended to her originally. Turns out she was exaggerating and there were only 152 plans served up. When I knocked out everything but HSAs that narrowed it down to 63 plans. Still quite a lot to deal with, I’ll give her that. But the cursing, ohhhh the cursing.

 

Once she got past the initial shock of the volume of plans, she quickly began to hone in on specific plans that were in our consideration set. One of her primary needs was the list of doctors.

 

And what a list it was. Now there is fare for all kinds of comic relief. It is so tempting. Just insert your own quip at this point and move on.

 

The point here, and do with it what you will, is that you might have a better experience shopping if you give a little thought to what your objectives are before you start on the hunt. Otherwise, you may be a little overwhelmed when you get started. Yes, I am one of those “masters of the obvious” but how many of you women and men out there at Christmas time or any gift giving occasion, get dressed, hop in your car or on your favorite mode of transit, hustle off to the mall or Wal-Mart without a clue as to what the perfect gift is?? You wander around the mall for 4 hours clueless. An hour of that time is spent trying to make a decision on what to eat at the food court, which in the end is an underwhelming experience in and of itself. Finally, you leave the mall three pounds heavier, no gift in hand and more stressed out than when you went in. A little planning can go a long way.