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Article #293: Meeting Your Family's Health Needs With An HSA

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Making sure that your family is able to Better Coverage
stay healthy partly depends on having a The new HSA's have an extra real nice
good health insurance program for them. feature - they cover more. Some things
One of the more recent new additions to that you may not have been covered for
the health insurance industry is called under another type of policy, you may
the Health Savings Account (HSA). This find that you are covered for with an
new program enables you to have reduced HSA. This could actually allow you to get
insurance rates because of a higher a better coverage for less. Things like
deductible, and a tax deferred savings dental coverage, therapy, even
program with it. Here are some of the non-prescription medicines and some
features of this program. alternative treatments may also be
Reduced Rates covered, and even some mental illness
By getting a health insurance program treatments, too.
with a high deductible, you are able to You Keep Control
greatly reduce your monthly premiums. Under an HSA, you are the one in control
This is an especially good way to go, if of the money. It is yours to use. You can
you are younger and currently have pretty take money out of the account when you
good health. The deductible amounts are want, but only the money that is used
pre-determined by the government, and you only for medical purposes is tax-exempt.
are required to have deductible amounts Generally, you will be given a card, like
between $1,050 and $5,250 for singles, a credit card, that gives you access to
and it needs to be between $2,100 and the account. Whenever you use money from
$10,500 for families. the account, the insurance company
Savings Are Tax Exempt automatically gets a receipt, and it is
One of the great benefits of this type of subtracted from your account, and your
plan is that, like an IRA, you enjoy deductible - and it remains tax exempt.
tax-free income, and interest on the Like any other insurance policy, once you
amounts you have in the program. You can have paid the deductible amounts, the
put into the plan money that comes off rest is up to the insurer to pay. By
the top of your taxes. There are limits, having the high deductible you reduce the
though, and for singles it is up to premiums considerably. The savings
$2,700, and for families it is $5,450. A account can also provide a good hedge for
little extra benefit is that you are able your medical insurance program for the
to take off of your taxes any money that future, too, because any money not used
is deposited into the account all the way toward the deductible remains your money
up to April 15th. So, if you are coming - to use next year, if you need it. On
up to tax time, and find you need to the other hand, the money in your HSA
reduce your taxes some more, you can put might also be used to provide some money
it into your HSA, and find the tax break for retirement - assuming you maintain
you need. your good health.






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