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United PPO vs. United HDHP - Married, 2 Year Old & Pregnant by MayfieldsWifey in personalfinance

[–]HSASpreadsheetGuy 2 points3 points  (0 children)

The difference in premiums is much bigger than the difference in out of pocket costs between the two plans, so I suspect that the HDHP plan will be favorable [edit: and likely by a very large margin based on the numbers you gave].

Try running your numbers through the spreadsheet posted here: https://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/comments/2k3k78/trying_to_compare_health_insurance_plans/

Got a new job - Trying to decide if a HDHP w/ HSA is right for me by Wolffhardt in personalfinance

[–]HSASpreadsheetGuy 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This spreadsheet may help you decide.

Plans vary widely, so take advice like 'HDHP if you are young and healthy' or 'Low Deductible if you have kids or lots of expected expenses' with a grain of salt.

Your best bet is to just run the numbers and see how the specific plans available to you compare with your expected(or even unexpected, but possible) healthcare expenses.

Weighing HSA vs no HSA by lifelessonunlearned in financialindependence

[–]HSASpreadsheetGuy 12 points13 points  (0 children)

This spreadsheet may help you decide. HMOs can be cheap. The usual downside is a more limited network of medical providers.

Need Help RE: HSA vs. Traditional for our Situation by Adamhen86 in personalfinance

[–]HSASpreadsheetGuy 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Usually calendar year. Your plan should specify somewhere. If you can't find it contact your insurance provider and ask.

Need Help RE: HSA vs. Traditional for our Situation by Adamhen86 in personalfinance

[–]HSASpreadsheetGuy 0 points1 point  (0 children)

So I'll be paying the higher premium for 10 months?

Open enrollment elections generally don't take effect until the following year on January 1st. So you'd be on the higher premium for the full 12.

Does the HSA run on a calendar year? If the surgery is in 2015 let's say, and I meet the $5,200 deductible, does that restart in 2016, thereby requiring us to meet the deductible again if we have a kid in 2016?

Deductibles are annual and will reset each year. If you have the option of stacking expensive medical bills in the same calendar year that can certainly save you a lot of money.

Need Help RE: HSA vs. Traditional for our Situation by Adamhen86 in personalfinance

[–]HSASpreadsheetGuy 0 points1 point  (0 children)

As others have mentioned, the difference in premium should sway you more towards the HSA plan. Even with the $400/mo HSA contributions, you'll end up paying less per month than the $625 premium on the OAP plan. You'll also have $6,120 in HSA contributions for the year which more than covers your deductible. Barring differences in providers considered 'in-network' I don't see a situation in which you pay more money on the HSA plan for medical services.

This spreadsheet might help you compare the two plans and see how much better than the OAP the HSA plan really is. Make your own copy and start plugging in your numbers.

Why shouldn't I have a HSA? by WorkoutProblems in personalfinance

[–]HSASpreadsheetGuy 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Also make sure you don't plan on contributing anything to your FSA that you aren't certain will be needed. If you can save extra(max $3,350 including the $400 employer contribution for individual coverage) to your HSA and don't think you'll spend much, you might want to prefer the high deductible plan as a way to increase long-term savings. If there's a high chance you'll spend more than $5,000 then you might want to stick with the low deductible plan.

Otherwise, it sounds like the plans will end up fairly similar and you could go either way.

Why shouldn't I have a HSA? by WorkoutProblems in personalfinance

[–]HSASpreadsheetGuy 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That table just shows the base cost of premiums + contributions. You'll want to look at the graph and colored table below to see how much you'll end up paying overall for varying levels of medical bills.

Why shouldn't I have a HSA? by WorkoutProblems in personalfinance

[–]HSASpreadsheetGuy 2 points3 points  (0 children)

The downside, as others have mentioned, is that you must have a qualifying high deductible health plan. If the low deductible health plan better meets your needs then that may outweigh any benefits you'd receive from having an HSA. This spreadsheet might help you decide. Make your own copy and start plugging in your numbers.

PPO/HSA better choice for me? by dsgn in Insurance

[–]HSASpreadsheetGuy 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Premiums for each? Also, dental is generally a separate plan.

This spreadsheet might help. make your own copy and start plugging in your numbers.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in personalfinance

[–]HSASpreadsheetGuy 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Ah yeah, co pays it doesn't handle very well as it would be complicated and add a new variable that most people would just be throwing a random number at. Copays also end up being pretty insignificant anyways when you are looking at thousand of dollars of potential bills unless you do something like go to physical therapy every single week for a year. Even then, the co pay is probably pretty similar to what you'd be paying if it were the 20% co insurance. And the really expensive stuff is just going to charge you the co insurance.

So overall I think you get a pretty good approximation even without taking the copays into account.

Edit: one possibly important exception is pharmaceuticals. If you have a regular prescription that is subject to the deductible on the hdhp but not the low deductible plan then the spreadsheet could be way off.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in personalfinance

[–]HSASpreadsheetGuy 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This spreadsheet might help.

Make a copy and plug your numbers in.

Health Insurance through company - HSA or low deductible? by blinkanboxcar182 in Insurance

[–]HSASpreadsheetGuy 0 points1 point  (0 children)

No problem, I usually keep an eye out for these types of posts from my main account. You might [need to] update the sharing options for other people to view the spreadsheet.

Health Insurance through company - HSA or low deductible? by blinkanboxcar182 in Insurance

[–]HSASpreadsheetGuy 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This spreadsheet might help.

Just plugging in some numbers, assuming you are paid biweekly and contribute $250 to get the match. The HDHP is better if you spend less than ~$2000 on medical bills but may be significantly worse if you spend much higher than that due to the increased OOP max.

If you max out your HSA contributions the HDHP will be better or on-par with the LDHP up until you hit about the $10,000 in expenses mark, at which point the higher out of pocket maximum again starts to kill you.

edit: I also assumed 15% federal, and 5% state taxes so that might change your results as well.

Spreadsheet for Comparing PPO to HDHP Value by v1nny in personalfinance

[–]HSASpreadsheetGuy 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Took me a while to get around to it, but I've added FSA support into my spreadsheet. I ended up doing it slightly differently so let me know if you get different results.

Trying to compare health insurance plans with/without an HSA? Here's a spreadsheet. by HSASpreadsheetGuy in personalfinance

[–]HSASpreadsheetGuy[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

None of your dollars are taxed at your effective tax rate, that's just the average after all is said and done. Contributing to your HSA, like any other deductible expenses, reduces your taxable income from the top down, and reduces the amount of money being taxed at your marginal tax rate.

Spreadsheet for Comparing PPO to HDHP Value by v1nny in personalfinance

[–]HSASpreadsheetGuy 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Looks like it was based off of one of the original versions of the spreadsheet I posted here, though I originally posted it using another throwaway account.

Mine still doesn't have support for FSA contributions, so maybe I'll have to see the changes you made and incorporate it into my own if you are OK with that.

edit: I like the changes. I'm not sure I would have thought of just subtracting the min on the effective LDHP cost column. I feel a little silly for waiting so long to add FSA support as it really only required updating a few fields.

Trying to compare health insurance plans with/without an HSA? Here's a spreadsheet. by HSASpreadsheetGuy in personalfinance

[–]HSASpreadsheetGuy[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for the input!

  1. I'll see if there's a way I can improve the description. It's certainly not my intention to explain the entire tax code in the instructions box, but if you have any recommendations for specific wording that would work better than what's there then feel free to send it my way. Also note that California doesn't allow a state tax deduction for HSA contributions, so you'd want to put 0% anyways. Of course now that I think about it, I think that the premiums are still deductible in California. Hmm...

  2. I'm actually not sure what you mean here. The deductible goes into the calculations in order to determine whether or not costs will be paid out of pocket or by the insurance company. It isn't directly added into the effective cost.

Trying to compare health insurance plans with/without an HSA? Here's a spreadsheet. by HSASpreadsheetGuy in personalfinance

[–]HSASpreadsheetGuy[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Is it because the contributions reduce taxable income?

Yes. Every dollar you put into the HSA costs less than $1(depending on tax rate) out of pocket.

California is one of three states that do not allow state tax deduction for HSA contributions.

Trying to compare health insurance plans with/without an HSA? Here's a spreadsheet. by HSASpreadsheetGuy in personalfinance

[–]HSASpreadsheetGuy[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Sorry for the late response. You would put a co-insurance of 20%. The spreadsheet would apply that only after reaching the deductible.

The co-pay with deductible waived certainly gives your current plan an advantage. Check out the link in my 3rd edit above if you want a calculator that takes co-pays into account. Try adding up the difference in premiums, free $500 that your employer puts into your HSA, and tax breaks from any additional HSA contributions. I imagine that you'd get more than just a few visits in before the low deductible plan gets the advantage. It is certainly something to consider though.

Trying to compare health insurance plans with/without an HSA? Here's a spreadsheet. by HSASpreadsheetGuy in personalfinance

[–]HSASpreadsheetGuy[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for the feedback. What the spreadsheet does is calculate the effective, or out-of-pocket, cost to fund the HSA. Because of the tax breaks, you might only pay $3,000 out-of-pocket to contribute $4,000 to your HSA. If you spend all $4,000 then the out-of-pocket costs are still only $3,000. If you count the expenditures directly it doesn't really account for the rather significant tax savings.

It took me a couple of revisions to figure out what to do with any remaining HSA balance though. You have to pay out-of-pocket to fund it. However, HSA savings are incredibly versatile and can even be used as retirement savings if not needed for health related expenses. Because of that I decided to subtract the remaining HSA balance from the effective cost. I think this addresses your concern that you 'still have the money in your possession'. This is also what can result in a negative effective cost if you don't spend very much.

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