The title of this article reminds me of a really bad topic, for really bad English assignment, after after a really good summer, a long time ago.  But, if you are reading this, chances are you might have a bit of interest in the topic.

Last Saturday, a local hospital sponsored a free skin cancer screening down at one of their locations.  Three years ago, I would have never known about it, and if for some coincidental reason, I had, I wouldn’t have given a crap.

But, when you have a high deductible health plan with a health savings account and then hear the words “free” combined with “health” your ears are likely to perk up like Mr. Spock’s.  Vulcan “A” man!  

That was me last Saturday.  My wife and I went down there and just had a Vulcan great time having our moles inspected by the mole inspector general.  Actually, it was a very nice and competent PA from one of the local dermatology offices who somehow got enticed (maybe it was a Vulcan mind meld) along with about a half a dozen other qualified PAs as  to check out the moles and other skin irregularities of hundreds of total strangers. 

Not only did they check everyone out, but they gave away a ton of free sun screen samples; and I’m not talking the no-named crap you get at the dollar store, this was the good stuff.  They were also giving away Braves baseball caps to help protect all those pretty faces.  Now who gets that kind of treatment at the normal doctor?  The last free thing my Doctor gave me was a stool sample kit.  It kind of stunk if you asked me.  

Because I have a very high deductible, the opportunity to take care of my health for the low low cost of nothing, is very appealing.  And that in short is a little bit about what consumer driven health care is all about.

It’s about becoming a smarter health care shopper.  It’s about tuning into one’s own body.  It’s about taking control of one’s well care and health care.   It’s about saving money smartly.  Consumer driven health, in my book, is a pretty Vulcan good idea.   

So I rolled the by now clearly sick boy into the car and headed for the “Take Care
Clinic” about a mile away located in the Walgreens.  It is extremely convenient and at 7:00 at night, it was a total no brainer.

Anyway, I checked him in, gave them my Humana insurance card and in about 45 minutes he’d been diagnosed and the prescription to take care of his strep throat has been electronically sent to the Publix across the street (sorry Walgreens, but Publix filled the prescription for free plus I was able to load up on Gatorade and Popsicles while I was there).

My only gripe about the process, is that I am not sure exactly what I am going to have to pay for the visit, because, even though I am obligated 100% for the amount, I couldn’t pay it on the spot because Humana can’t, or won’t, tell the clinic what I am supposed to pay.  That’s another rant for another day because that little detail adds to the cost of health care and generally chaps my butt.   They will send me a bill eventually and I will pay it.  In the meantime I will rationalize it as a free loan.  

The above said, the posted price of the visit was $65 plus the cost of the test, so  I’m guessing my visit and the strep test is going to run somewhere between $75 and $100 after the insurance discount.  As a bonus I can pay for it from my HSA. 

Now if you are one of those folks who has traditional insurance you might be chuckling at your good fortune, because you would have only had to pay the $25 co-pay for the visit.  But I am chuckling at you because unless your employer is a saint, you are having some big chunk of $ taken out of your paycheck each pay period to give you the privilege of that $25 co-pay.  In all likelihood, your premiums far exceed my $250 monthly premium (which covers my family of 4).  So in the end, I most likely paid less.

Now my insurance plan is less than perfect, but I have saved a ton of money over the past 3 years since I moved out from under my former employer’s COBRA plan and into a high deductible health plan with a health savings account.  In addition to the premium savings I have received, my HDHP has provided other benefits including the tax advantaged HSA which have made it a good choice for me.  In my plan, I pay for what I use, I have coverage in the event someone in my family has a major medical need, and I have a mechanism to save like crazy.    

Recently, we’ve been discussing the merits of a new program, My HSA Rewards which is an online shopping program that helps consumers save money on the stuff they buy every day as well as the stuff they buy every so often and put money into their health savings account at the same time.

In the spirit of full disclosure, I helped put that program together, so while I am biased, I am honestly biased.  My background is loyalty marketing and I’ve been involved with, helped build, partnered with, benchmarked, and analyzed some of the world’s most prolific loyalty programs.  So I do have some credibility when I say things like “My HSA Rewards is an extremely easy program to sign up for and use, its value proposition is competitive with pretty much every online shopping program out there, and is the leader in its space.”

The above sounds like a big fat ad, and to some extent it is, but I want to talk for a moment about how I have been using My HSA Rewards for my business.  I am a small businessman who, among other things, helps companies make their loyalty programs better.  In the course of my business, I have had the need recently to purchase travel, computers, printer ink, printing services, wireless services, reference books, and dining. I try to push as many of those purchases through My HSA Rewards.  Some of the brands include Staples, HP, Priceline, Vistaprint, Restaurant.com, and 1,2,3 Inkjets and by using them, in addition to saving money on the purchases themselves, I am approaching $200 in incremental savings into my Health Savings Account.  As the thriftiest guy on the planet, that makes me feel pretty good.  

So last week, I ordered flowers for my Mom through My HSA Rewards and in the process put 10% of the cost of the flowers back into my own pocket.  Well, actually better than that, I will get money back that will go into my Health Savings Account.  I’ve written about this a few times, and will keep doing so as long as I am using it as a mechanism to fund my HSA.

If you just landed here for the first time, My HSA Rewards is a program  you can use free of charge to save more money into your HSA.  Specifically, when you make purchases through My HSA Rewards with any of their 400-500 or so online merchants, a % of each purchase is returned to you’re My HSA Rewards account.  When you reach $50 in your account, you can transfer it into your HSA at whatever bank you have it.  Simple.

As for me and my Mom, I get a cash reward and she gets flowers.  I clicked on the Pro Flowers button at My HSA Rewards, but My HSA Rewards also offers 1-800 Flowers and FTD.com, and I have bought from them as well.

So, while you may not be sending Dad flowers for Father’s day, it he is interested in pretty much anything, you can probably find it through My HSA Rewards  and put a bit of cash back into your HSA in the process.  See for yourself how you can help yourself and maybe even make your Dad smile to boot.

How so you ask?  I’ll get to that in a minute.

You might be thinking, this guy is going to put a whopping $300 into his HSA.  Big whoop if his deductible is $10,000, that’s hardly a dent.   But I look at every dollar I contribute in as important, and I look at it from a relative perspective.  In my world $300 is the cost of a couple of visits to the doctor for my kids when they catch whatever is going around that month.  Or it’s the annual cost of one of my kids acne medicine.  Or it covers the difference between what my insurance policy pays for well care (included in my policy) and what the doctor actually bills me for the visit.  So for me, $300 of “found” money is real.

Last summer a program called My HSA Rewards was quietly launched to help folks like me save for my health care expenses.  I joined the program online and then when I need “stuff,” I try to buy as much of it as I can through the My HSA Rewards website.  Every time I buy “stuff,” a % of my purchase is returned to me, and specifically into my, My HSA Rewards account, where I can keep up with it.  When I have accumulated $50 in “stuff” related $s, I click a button and the money is sent to my HSA  at my bank.  It doesn’t matter what bank I use; so if I ever move my account from one bank to another, I can continue to earn $s in the program and transfer the funds into my HSA.

So what is my personal definition of “stuff”?  In the past year, I have purchased a tea kettle, two de-humidifiers, airline tickets, hotel nights, sheets, skin care products, compact discs, restaurant discount vouchers, electronics including a laptop, text books for my kids, printing services, ink for my printer, and flowers for my Momma (twice).  In all, I made 44 purchases for stuff I was going to buy anyway, from vendors I trust, at competitive pricing.  In fact the program has something like over 400 merchants in the program, so there’s a pretty good chance that if you can think it up, you can buy it through My HSA Rewards.     

Total no freaking brainer.  Especially, since there is not cost to sign up. 

Bottom line, I like the program, it is easy to use, and all the little purchases and big support my desire to find more efficient ways to save, and specifically save for my health care.