Health Savings Accounts (HSAs)
I don't think people realize how much help the Health Savings Account (HSA) is for the self-employed. The overall problem, in fact the entire reason we have a healthcare crisis in America, is because we treat health insurance in a damn stupid way.
Think of how you use your car insurance. When you get into a car accident, it's nice to have insurance. When someone steals your car, insurance is a great thing.
But what happens when you get a flat tire? Do you run to your insurance company and try to get them to cover it? Of course not. Even when you get a ding in your windshield, it is likely that the repair won't be costly enough to put you above your deductible, so you don't bother involving your insurance company.
House insurance? If your house burns down, call your insurance company. A tree falls on your roof? It's appropriate to get the insurer involved.
But what about when you break a doorknob on your bedroom door? Do you run crying to your insurance company, hoping that they'll pay? Are you kidding?
Now compare that to our NATIONAL approach to health insurance. You fall down the stairs and break your leg. Let's hope your covered by health insurance. You get cancer. Health insurance is sooooo helpful.
You get the flu and you need antibiotics. Health insurance??? Yes, we try to run that doctor's visit and the prescription through health insurance.
Your kid has an ear infection. Health insurance??? Yes, we bitch if that's not covered.
Are we nuts? Here's the situation we've created. By running all these little things through the health insurance system, we've created a goddamn monster.
The insurance company has to pay their clerks to process every little piece of paper that comes through the office, whether it's for a cancer treatment or a runny nose. Those clerks are expensive. And they have to pay the people to make the decisions on whether or not something is covered.
Worse yet, if the insurer does cover the small stuff (doctor's visits, prescriptions, etc.) then the cost of the premiums is going to go up. It has to. Not just a little, but up a lot.
How do we change this? Change this situation by changing our own thinking. Treat health insurance like you treat car insurance or home insurance. Use it for the big things. In fact, if you do, you can buy a high-deductible health insurance policy, and the insurance company will reward you handsomely for your decision.
For my wife and I (both self-employed) we would normally pay around $1000 a month for a regular health insurance policy. We can't afford that! No way!
Instead, we bought a high-deductible policy. It costs us $175 a month.
Now if you're thinking that we could probably spend our entire deductible ($5000) every single year and still be ahead of that $1000/month policy, you're absolutely right.
That's where the Health Savings Account (HSA) comes into the picture. You should really save up the deductible amount ($5000 in our case) in a bank account somewhere. If you designate that bank account as a Health Savings Account in the eyes of the IRS, then the whole thing is tax-deductible.
That's the magic of high-deductible insurance policies. Enough said.
If you want to know more, you can buy my book called "Health Insurance Off the Grid" at the Website www.healthoffthegrid.com for $39.99. If you don't save at least two thousand dollars PER YEAR over a normal health insurance policy, I'll give your $39.99 back, no questions asked.
12:34:16 PM 
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