Talk:High-deductible health plan

Untitled

Can we change the wording from: A high-deductible health plan (HDHP) is a health insurance plan with lower premiums and higher deductibles than a traditional health plan.

To

A high-deductible health plan (HDHP) is a BULLSHIT health insurance plan that promises initial lower premiums with OUTRAGEOUS and crippling higher deductibles than a traditional health plan. They only save money for people who do no use their health care benefits.

????

^^ i concur 24.73.39.179 (talk) 02:08, 20 January 2011 (UTC)

Tax implications

For tax purposes, is being "uninsured" an HDHP that has an infinite deductible? The instructions for IRS form 8889 seem to indicate there is a 10% penalty on otherwise-qualified medical expenses made from an HSA account if the person loses HDHP coverage. Consider the case of an unemployed person who, before being laid off, had an employer-paid HDHP and had established an HSA. After being laid off, she joins the ranks of the uninsured. Can she still pay medical expenses using her HSA without penalty (since being uninsured is equivalent to having an HDHP with an infinite deductible) or not? If the answer is that HSA-paid expenses by the uninsured are penalized, this would be another reason to criticize HSAs. SEppley (talk) 19:07, 8 April 2010 (UTC)

According to the documentation for my HSA, you're able to continue using it for medical expenses as normal after you leave your job and no longer have the associated HDHP. I don't know if you're penalized on your taxes for it, but one of the benefits of an HDHP is that you don't pay the full rate that the doctor would charge someone who's uninsured, you pay the amount insurance would pay if it was covering the cost. If you're paying a penalty AND paying the full rate after you lose your HDHP, that is definitely worth criticism. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.73.39.179 (talk) 10:57, 29 March 2011 (UTC)