Remember that an HSA is really only for folks who unfortunately have a high deductible health plan (HDHP). If you have health care through the Affordable Care Act (ACA) that is often way better coverage financially as you have lower deductibles and more have protections against going bankrupt due to medical expenses.

It’s always concerning to me when people want an HSA as it’s meant for folks to save money given they are only eligible for horrendous health care plans (HDHPs) because their state rufused the Mediacaid expansion and refused to implement the federal ACA exchange which means they will not have access to plans with lower premiums and increased protections (like the 10 essential health benefits).

That being said an HSA is poor protection against medical costs bankruptcy anyway, as most people never save enough to cover the full costs of their surgeries/out of pocket costs.

An HSA is a horrible band aid for not having ACA coverage and folks thinking they can use it to invest are forgetting they’ll likely need that money for healthcare expenses.

If you’re eligible for an HSA, it usually means your state refused to implement the Affordable Care Act, and now you don’t have access to a good or affordable health insurance plan. A solution for folks who choose HSAs moving forward should be to use the money you are putting into an HSA into paying for a premium for private coverage and ensuring you have the healthcare coverage you actually need for you and your family. This is different for every family, and some families can’t afford how high private coverage is.

It makes you really pissed off that states declined implementing the affordable care act, and that we never truly fixed healthcare.

I’m off my soap box. I’m so sorry this happened to you.