I'm a 33 year-old married woman with 2 toddlers. Currently, my family is covered under Kaiser Permanente out here in California. We pay a little over $1000 a month for healthcare coverage under Kaiser which includes dental coverage now. We are a healthy family that utilizes the yearly check-ups, occasional emergency room visits, occasional unplanned office visits for routine things throughout the year & we only have done routine dental visits as well (no dental emergencies...yet.) We pay these monthly premiums, then are subjected to the copayments & occasional $100 emergency room fees (what is negotiated under our plan). It terrifies me that we spend so much money per year on health insurance alone! We don't even use it enough to justify the amount of money we spend on it! It's crazy! We could be using that money for vacations instead or remodeling our home. My husband works full-time for a construction company but the company does NOT offer health insurance. I am a 100% disabled veteran, with full VA benefits, so I'm lucky that I have free dental & my health care is covered as well, although I do NOT trust the VA to handle my health care fully. I see them for my disability related conditions & for annual women's health exams. But, other than that, I don't trust them to have the best choices in technology or medications. Because I am a 100% disabled veteran, my family is eligible for CHAMPVA benefits, which are so confusing to understand fully. My question is, would HSA's be the best choice for my family? The concern I have is having enough funds in this account to cover unexpected EMERGENCY costs which can add up pretty quickly. You don't have to be a rocket scientist to figure that we are paying an incredible amount of money for healthcare costs that we don't even use. I tried looking up deductible plans that Kaiser offers but because I want things clarified so that I can understand them, I ask questions. And because I ask questions, I feel that Kaiser's representatives are only there to "sell" me their plans & aren't really looking out for my best interest. Also, I don't know if I'm asking the RIGHT questions...for all I know I'm being taken advantage of totally & don't have anyone qualified to tell me otherwise without trying to SELL me something. Please help???

I came across a website the other day that might be able to help. It's www.HSAadviser.com and they have a nice calculator. It lets you enter expenses, and then compares your out of pocket cost for different plans. It can be adjusted for interest rates and taxes as well.

This would help you determine how many medical emergencies you would need to have before a HDHP ends up costing you more.

camnmaksmom,
Everyone's situation is different,so it is VERY difficult to tell you absolutely that an HSA is the solution for you. That said, there are a couple of places on this site I would like to direct your attention so that you can begin asking the right questions about your situation. Specifically click on the "HSAs for Consumers" tab and look at the box on the left hand side. Please take a look at "a real world example," "Being a smarter healthcare shopper," and "HSA Savings Calculator". These are 3 tools that may help you begin to chart your course. Once armed, I suggest you find a good Insurance Agent who clearly understands your situation and who can offer you multiple options based on your specific needs. The folks at HSAeducator.com may be able to help you find one (or more if you want to check one vs. another) and you can contact them at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it . ALSO, once you review the recommended pages, some of your questions may be answered. If you have specific questions after that float them here and either the folks at HSAeducator will take a crack at them or ask some of their experts to look at them too. I hope this helps.

I agree with Shades. The folks at HSAeducator will probably be able to find a health insurance broker in California who could help you with the particulars with California HSAs. That being said, to help ease your fears of unexpected expenses like accidents, you may want to check out the website www.hsaforamerica.com and learn about their accident supplemental policies. In short, they help cover your unexpected expenses like a broken arm or twisted ankles and such.