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• 6465
  

  "drop your current health insurance coverage and continue with a high deductible plan you can take with you into retirement... see what happens"

  What will happen is that Polly will elect the same retirement health plan as you elect when you retire. The difference is that she will have a tax-free savings account to use for her co-pays, deductibles, prescription drugs, vision, dental, over-the-counter drugs,etc. Or, Polly may decide to pay taxes on the funds contributed to her savings account by the federal gov't and use those funds to pay for travel during retirement. Either way, Polly will probably have the same health insurance plan as you have when you retire from federal service.

  GovExec.com reader Posted October 1, 2004 8:52 PM
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  Polly, Yes, not thinking does appear to be your problem. Of course health insurance premiums will continue to increase. The question is, how fast?

  Like I said, go ahead, drop your current health insurance coverage and continue with a high deductible plan you can take with you into retirement... see what happens.

  Georgie really likes people like you ;)

  GovExec.com reader Posted September 24, 2004 1:04 PM
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  I went from the low option health plan to a high option because I wanted to have increased benefits. What I got was MINIMALLY increased benefits and an increased co-payment as of Jan 04. Once out of 30 years I needed a new dental bridge which was estimated at $2300. How much was my high option plan willing to pay? $420. Now we government employees are offered "supplemental" dental and vision plans to cover those costs not covered by our already expensive health/dental benefit plans. Prior to all this, HSAs didn't have any appeal to me and seemed risky. The risk, now I believe, lies within our personal ability to discipline ourselves to make regular financial contributions to the HSA. Just for myself, I pay almost $200 a month for health insurance and get relatively zip for my hard-earned dollar. More and more, I am thinking that maybe I should give HSAs more than a passing thought. I think we are getting financially raked over the coals and, I believe, the insurance companies are doing it en masse - much like airline companies do with ticketing.

  GovExec.com reader Posted September 24, 2004 10:40 AM
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  HSA is an option but not a very good one. Most people pay about 80% of their health care cost in the last five years of their lives. The HSA is similar to an IRA but focused on health care. Why does it have to be tied to a high deductible policy? People with relatively low incomes cannot afford to contribute much to such a plan. Therefore, as the low income people go for the plan because of the low premiums on the health coverage, they expose themselves to far greater risk than they face under the current health insurance plans.

  These lower income people will get sick before they can accumulate enough to cover the high deductible and then as taxpayers we will have to steop up to pay for the problems generated by this plan. Also, some young people with good health will opt out of the current plans to take the lower cost HSA coverage and minimize their contributions because they do not get sick! This will increase the ratio of health care payout to premiums collected and increase the costs of the traditional policy coverage that us old folks carry.

  HSAs and IRAs are fine as long as there is traditional health coverage and a defined benefits program to supplement them. An individual cannot cover their retirement and health coverage because individually the risk of out living your retirement or using up your HSAs are too great and are not diversified away because there is no large group over which to spread the risks. In the end the tax payers are going to pay for all this crap. Especially important is the prop[osal by BUSH to turn part of the social security payment into an individual plan - this further reduces the diversification of risk by eliminating the group. The group is what makes the averages work in calculating premiums or retirement benefits! It does not work on an individual basis because the risk of you out living the pension or health care is too great!

  tax payer Posted September 24, 2004 6:26 AM
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  "Listen, what makes you think non-participant health insurance premiums won't be increased for lack of participants in the traditional insurance plans?"

  I don't think non HSA participant health insurance premiums won't be increased.

  I know those traditional premiums will continue to increase regardless of whether we have an option of having an HSA. We have never had the option of electing an HSA before and our premiums have continued to increase every year. They will continue to increase, with out without an HSA.

  Pollyanna

  GovExec.com reader Posted September 23, 2004 8:57 PM
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  Dearest Pollyanna,

  Reference your statement of, "Geez, if you don't want to elect the HSA w/ the high deductible health plan, don't elect it." Go ahead, drop your current health insurance coverage and continue with a high deductible plan you can take with you into retirement.

  Listen, what makes you think non-participant health insurance premiums won't be increased for lack of participants in the traditional insurance plans? Perhaps you think that is their problem and cover your lack of forethought about how the choices you make impact other people by implying they are "whiners".

  GovExec.com reader Posted September 23, 2004 1:29 PM
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  For those complaining about the HSA plans, if you don't want to participate in an HSA, don't participate. Premium conversion and FSA plans were offered to private sector employees in the late 1970s and not offered to most federal employees until 2003 (probably because federal employees complained in 1978 they didn't want the plans and then compained in 2003 that they wanted the plans).

  We can't whine when we don't have the same options that private sector has and then whine when we do. Geez, if you don't want to elect the HSA w/ the high deductible health plan, don't elect it.

  GovExec.com reader Posted September 23, 2004 11:44 AM
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  What a bunch of garbage. We have more options than we can stand already. We need and deserve lower health insurance costs. We are a 1.8 million person organization, why are we wasting time on HSA policies when we should be negotiating lower prices for everyone?

  Could it be, the government is helping the insurance business get rich at the expense of Federal Workers?

  Newt, go back to being a talking head, no one believes you there either. Butt out.

  GovExec.com reader Posted September 23, 2004 7:24 AM
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  I do not trust anything that this administration cooks up. They are hostile to all federal employees.

  GovExec.com reader Posted September 23, 2004 7:21 AM