Health Savings Accounts- When Do They Make Cents for Families
Released on = December 16, 2005, 7:00 am
Press Release Author = Benefits Boutique
Industry = Small Business
Press Release Summary = Health Savings Accounts (HSAs), allow families of all ages and incomes to pay for all of their health, dental and vision care expenses with \"pretax dollars.\" But they are not a good deal for everyone. Industry expert Mike Chapman from BenefitsBoutique.com explains when Health Savings Accounts make sense.
Press Release Body = FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Dallas, Texas 12/13/2005
Health Savings Accounts--When Do They Make Cents for Families?
Health Savings Accounts (HSAs), allow families of all ages and incomes to pay for their health, dental and vision care expenses with \"pretax dollars.\" But they are not a good deal for everyone. Industry expert Mike Chapman explains when Health Savings Accounts can help families save on health care and taxes.
Mike Chapman is a self-employed businessman with a family of six. He figures his health savings account and medical savings account have saved his family over $10,000 in taxes and $15,000 in lower health insurance premiums over the last four years.
\"We\'ve been lucky.\" says Chapman, \"I gambled when we opened our HSA that we could stay healthy. That helped us save on our health insurance premiums and invest it in our HSA. Every dollar we put in the HSA we took as a tax deduction. But if a family member had gotten ill, I don\'t know how I would have met our insurance plan\'s $5000 deductible.\"
\"But now, I have enough in the health savings account to cover health care emergencies, and our HSA is growing tax-free just like an IRA. And now we use it to pay for dentist and eye doctor checkups with pre-tax dollars.\"
Chapman, the president of www.BenefitsBoutique.com, a nationwide online life and health insurance agency, says that Health Savings Accounts and high deductible health plans make sense in the following circumstances:
First, the family members should be fairly healthy, requiring few doctor visits or meds on an ongoing basis. Therefore, families with infants should stick with a traditional plan that offers doctor visit and prescription copays that are absent in high deductible health insurance plans.
Second, you must be able to afford the risk of higher medical expenses for about a year and a half until you have enough money in your health savings account.
Chapman states that the most important factor is that you must be a disciplined saver. He recommends automatic maximum contributions into an HSA, at least until there is enough in the account to cover your insurance plan\'s deductible. If you aren\'t a saver, then don\'t bother with a HSA and high deductible health plan,\" according to Chapman.
No one health insurance plan fits all. But for healthy families, and especially older adults, HSAs are a great way to save on health insurance premiums and on taxes. \"The older you are, the more you can save with one of these plans,\" Chapman states. \"We have clients at BenefitsBoutique.com in their fifties and sixties from across the country who are not eligible for Medicare. They tell us that this is the only way they can afford quality health insurance.\"
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Arrange an interview with Michael Chapman for more insights into this topic:
Michael Chapman mtchapman@BenefitsBoutique.com http://www.BenefitsBoutique.com Direct Line: (888) 398-6246 Other helpful information can be found at: http://www.BenefitsBoutique.com.
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