Blog Entries tagged 'high deductible health plan'

Why is Healthcare So Friggin' Expensive? Reason # 11

shades — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 22:00:00 +0100

Last month we posted an article that hit on the "Unscientific Top Ten Reasons Why Healthcare is So Expensive." Today we are here to offer you unscientific reason #11.

The U.S. Government doesn't trust you any further than they can throw you.

HDHPs and HSAs, by nature should save you money over traditional health insurance. BUT, the Government in all its wisdom/paranoia does what they can to undermine their efficiencies.

In this case, they passed some leg [...]

A Soulful And Healthy HSA Christmas

shades — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 22:00:00 +0100

From time to time here at the Gradock Bulletin we try to keep things real with a little JB. The Godfather left us two years ago this month. Inspite of his challenges and struggles he left us with much good cheer and some incredible inspiration to "Get Up Off That Thing."

At this time of year, as you may be pondering with some stress, your benefits enrollment, entering the world of high deductible health plans and health savings accounts, we'd like to suggest that you [...]

(Health Savings Account) HSA Rules 2009

shades — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 22:00:00 +0100

Now there's a seemingly dry topic for an article on HSAs but guess what? It is one of the top keyword searches driving individuals to this site.

And since we are all about HSA education, it seems only fitting that if you blasted through cyberspace and somehow landed on this page reading this article, and this sentence specifically, it seems only fair that we get you to a place that can get your question answered. If you will click right here you will be shot through cybe [...]

So What's Going On In E-Health?

shades — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 22:00:00 +0100

If you have read the last two postings ("What the Heck is E-Health" and "E-Health and Health Savings Accounts") you know what e-health is. Now the question is, where is it going?

There's a good article in the December 8th edition of Business Week on E-Health. Love ‘em or hate ‘em, Wal-Mart (who began offering Health Savings Accounts in 2006 as a means to provide health benefits to its 1MM+ employees) will offer its 1MM benefits eligib [...]

E-Health And Health Savings Accounts (HSAs)

shades — Sat, 06 Dec 2008 22:00:00 +0100

If you read the last article in the Gradock Bulletin or if you're already well informed you know what the concept of "e-health" is (and if you didn't read it, it is right below this article). You might even be asking yourself what's in it for you? And more specifically, how does it relate to CDH, HSAs and HDHPs?

Good question.

Imagine if you had a secure place where you could input basic health information about yourself and your family that [...]

Goodbye Joe the Plumber. Hello Dan the Street Super.

shades — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 22:00:00 +0100

Dan Crowell represents the changing face of health and healthcare in America. Dan is the street superintendent for the city of Lafayette, Indiana. Now I don't know Dan but I read about him JConline.com, the online edition of the Journal Courier Newspapers of Lafayette and West Lafayette Indiana.

Both cities, faced with ever rising healthcare costs have joined together to save money on health insurance and to promote healthier employees. One of the keys to their st [...]

Politically Speaking, Is There A Middle Ground In Healthcare?

shades — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 22:00:00 +0100

Ron Klar, a guy way smarter than me when it comes to healthcare, the healthcare debate and fixing the problems related to our Nation's ills, wrote a terrific article just before the election entitled, AmericarePlans: A McCain-Obama Hybrid Proposal posted on Health Affairs, The Policy Journal of the Health Sphere. Being the last guy on the grape vine, it took awhile for me to intersect with his article.

I'm not going to regurgitate the article here as it is much bett [...]

Another $17 in My Health Savings Account (HSA) or is that My Hair Savings Account?

shades — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 23:00:00 +0100

When I was a kid, up until the age of about eleven, my Grandmother used to conduct Doctor Jekyl-like experiments on my hair with her handy scissors. I was a total toe head and when she was done they could have slapped me on the side of a paint can and called me the Little Dutch Boy.

I revolted at eleven and began a 30 plus year quest to find the perfect barber. Recently though, in my quest to save more money into my health savings account I decided to give Betty, my barber, [...]

Why Is Healthcare So Expensive? The Unscientific Top Ten Reasons Why.

shades — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 23:00:00 +0100

I have an HDHP. When I go to the Doctor to have them look at the creatures crawling around in my throat, causing me to itch all over, or making my hair fall out in clumps, I am expected to pick up the full tab until I hit my deductible. I even have a little stash of money, called an HSA to pay for it. BUT, I don't pay a nickel when the Doctor is done with me. Not immediately.

The Doctor has to put in a claim to my insurance company, the insurance company tell [...]

Health Savings Account (HSA) Mindset And Chinese Fortune Cookies

shades — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 23:00:00 +0100

"A Thrifty Man Is A Free Man" Advice from my fortune cookie March 1982

Good advice during these strange and troubling economic times. Good advice anytime and way cheaper than a fortune teller (unless of course, the fortune teller is your crazy aunt Zelda).

The October 20th edition of Business Week offered up a timely article entitled, "The New Age of Frugality" by Steve Hamm. It discusses the tightening of spending by Americans with our contra [...]

That Health Savings Account (HSA) You Hooked Is One Big Fish

shades — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 23:00:00 +0100

You've just been enrolled in an HSA for the first time huh? You might feel like you just hooked a big nasty line pulling pike. That sucker is and bad and feels like he's pulling you all over the place. How in the world are you going to deal with it?

[video:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKXjqsXj44Y 425x355]

If you have the right gear to reel it in, and maybe a cold Budweiser, you might just get him in the boat. Except for the chilly beer, that's [...]

HDHP Creativity - A Nugget of HSA Education

shades — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 23:00:00 +0100

If you read "High Deductible Health Plan - Rejected" you know that my family got rejected for our new HDHP plan when we tried to switch insurance providers. This is a brief update on where we stand presently. If you have found yourself in a similar situation, might find this somewhat worthwhile reading. The challenge with my current plan is that our provider seems to think that they need not provide us with any prescription coverage unless one of us is rolled into [...]

"Hows Yo Mamma?" Annual HDHP Enrollment & What is an HSA?

shades — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 23:00:00 +0100

About this time every year employers all over the nation unveil their latest, greatest insurance offerings for the coming year. They've worked over their brokers, agents, and consultants, dusted off a few old tricks and brought a couple new ones to the game. They've frosted up this package with Betty Crocker's finest, served it up on their finest china, put it on a fork and are now playing the "airplane" game with you.

Now you're probably thinking, " [...]

Health Care, Politics, and Pool Pals

shades — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 23:00:00 +0100

So there's all kind of buzz on the internet today regarding the Doug Holtz-Eakin's conference call on McCain's health plan over the weekend. Basically, he wanted to set the record straight, or at least defend the McCain plan from the general assault that Mr. Barack Obama and Co. mounted against McCain's health care policy. If you are like me, you're probably asking, "what is a Doug Holtz-Eakin and what does he know about anything?"

Holtz-Eakin [...]

How To Avoid Being An HSA LOSER!

shades — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 23:00:00 +0100

It's really quite easy actually...

United Healthcare recently released the results of a survey they did on their HDHP policyholders. They took a look at the demographics and behavior of depositors and found that 86% of those surveyed opened health savings accounts when their employer contributes on their behalf. However, only 27% of consumers opened HSAs when their employer did not contribute.

Ok, so if you are new to health savings accounts (HSAs) and your employe [...]

Health Savings Account 'Grab Bag' 101 - Yes You Can Have An HRA...

shades — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 23:00:00 +0100

...which stands for Health Reimbursement Arrangement or an FSA (flexible spending account) and still be HSA eligible. There are some rules around this which we are not going to cover here.

Say your back goes all wiggly and you need to go see your favorite back snapper, Dr. Flickfinger. Unfortunately, your high deductible health plan (HDHP) does not cover chiropractic, but lucky for you, your employer contributes to an HRA (or FSA) on your behalf. Say you rack up (bad c [...]

Health Savings Account 'Grab Bag' 101- Faux High Deductible Health Plans (HDHPs)

shades — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 23:00:00 +0100

There are plans out there that have "high deductibles," but this, in and of itself does not qualify it as a high deductible health plan (HDHP). While it is possible for an HSA qualified plan to restrict some benefits, it MUST provide significant benefits to qualify both a real high deductible health plan and for health savings account.

For example, if you are looking at a plan that offers you significant in-patient care (something happens and you get admitted to the hosp [...]

In Healthcare, When is Oop a Good Thing?

shades — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 23:00:00 +0100

I ran across a cool website today called outofpocket.com; let's call it Oop for short. Oop is a good thing, not to be confused with Oops, a bad thing. Oop also rhymes with something that occasionally attaches itself to the bottom of my son's shoes, which he feels compelled to bring into the house, but that's a story for another day.

Outofpocket.com is an exclamation point on consumer directed healthcare, not only because its mission is to bring transparency to th [...]

A Little Detour From The HSA �Grab Bag� 101�Halleluiah�s All Around

shades — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 23:00:00 +0100

For those folks glued to this blog to learn about the whole ‘Grab Bag' thing, fear not. For as best we can tell it pretty much goes into perpetuity. However, it is definitely time for the staff at Gradock to take a break and cover some other ground.

It is hard to believe it's been almost a year since we plunged into the world of high deductible health plans (HDHPs) and health savings accounts (HSAs). And brothers and sisters have we learned a lot. I [...]

Health Savings Account 'Grab Bag' 101 - Things Are Strange

shades — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 23:00:00 +0100

Some of these questions that are addressed in the Grab Bag seem so unlikely, one just has to wonder how many times the question has been asked. That said, apparently they have been asked and so we'll share the answers. They just seem very strange as it were.

But first, in the hair department, if you thought previous editions of The Gradock Bulletin focusing on haircuts were strange, check out this video. Now that is strange!

[video:http://www.youtube. [...]