Why? Because it is the coverage I need and without the bureaucracy that I don't. Allow me to elaborate. I have what is called a high deductible plan. It means that my insurance won't help to pay for medical care until a certain amount has been paid out by me. This sounds awful on the surface, but my employer has found a novel way around the problem, and I'm sure that many other businesses do this as well: They reimburse me throughout the year for the payments.
My deductible is $1,150 a year before insurance kicks in for a more traditional 'copay' style. I am compensated an additional $1,150 into my HSA, and this in turn pays for my medical expenses. My maximum out of pocket is only about $4,500 before insurance totally takes over, and since I would only have a 20% copay after the deductible, this means that I would have to access over $16,750 worth of medical care before insurance totally picks up the tab.
Being young as I am, it is not very likely that I would access that kind of care except in some catastrophe. The money that I don't spend in the following year rolls over into the next year, so every year I am a little less exposed, and in the meantime take a greater interest in my medical expenses. My thought is that this money will continue to grow until this coupled with emergency savings will be enough to handle any medical disaster later in life (barring, of course, a disaster early on).
But the very best part of the plan? Since I pay the majority of my medical expenses, I don't have to work around an intruding insurance agency, working a narrow web of doctors and having to receive referrals to specialists if I know I need one. It's nice to have the freedom to see the doctor I need to see rather than going to a family doctor, who in turn recommends the wrong specialist, who again in turn refers me to another doctor.
Besides all of this, all of my preventative care is covered, free of charge, by the insurance company. Annual doctor's visits, inoculations, eye exams etc. It's in the insurance company's best interest to detect and address problems and illnesses before they grow unmanageable.
I think the high deductible with the HSA strikes a nice compromise on health care for people willing to be prudent, plan and save for the future. The way I see it, the money I spend would have been spent in the form of a lower salary to purchase a low deductible plan. At least this way, my employer has provided me with a little more control over how my health care dollars are spent.
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