How I Got Free Healthcare in 2009

That’s right.  My wife and I both got FREE healthcare in 2009, and I want to teach you how. If you’re an older person or you find yourself in the doctor’s office many, many times a year, then you probably won’t find much value in this post. HOWEVER, if you’re a relatively healthy person and any dependents you may have are healthy, then read on…

stupid with zeros on the end »
Jenny and I have only been out of debt for two years, so I can still remember what it was like dreading financial emergencies. More specifically, since we didn’t have any savings earmarked for medical expenses, we were forced to carry expensive health insurance polices to cover basic office visits, tests, prescriptions, etc. But here’s the deal… we are both pretty healthy, so we were only using the stupid thing like 4 times a year and STILL had a co-pay for the office visit and prescription. I can’t even tell you how excited I was when I understood what a Health Savings Account (HSA) was and what it could do.

hsa basics »
69% of the standard PPO premium is for expenses less than $5,000…

So what if you were to switch your standard PPO over to a High-Deductible Health Plan (HDHP) then paid yourself the 69% difference? HSA plans allow you to do that!

what’s the point »
A standard HDHP has a $5,000 deductible with no co-pay. But at the end of the day, it’s not the $3,000 out-patient surgery that should scare you (especially if you’ve got $5,000 growing tax-free in an HSA). Even if you can’t cover a $3,000 doctor’s bill with cash, it’s not going to ruin you financially. But the $100,000 car accident + hospital stay WILL ruin you. A HDHP covers 100% of expenses after the deductible is met!

hsa structure »
Basically, HSAs have two parts. First, they contain High-Deductible Insurance that protects you from medical catastrophes. Second, they have a savings account to save your own money in order to pay for any non-catastrophic expenses. As you can see in the graphic below, your contributions are 1) tax-deductible 2) growing tax-deferred and 3) tax-free when spent on medical care. Not to mention you can elect to have your monies put into a solid growth-stock mutual fund, and you can spend your funds on everything from band-aids to pregnancies. Our mutual fund did so well last year, that we didn’t pay a dime for our expenses.  100% of what we spent was from interest it had earned.

the challenge »
You work too hard to blow your money on insurance you’re never going to use. Get rid of your co-pay plan and sign-up for a good HSA. I recommend getting an HDHP through Zander Insurance and an HSA through Health Savings Administrators.