Denise Lee Porter

My health care package as a corporate worker included an HSA or Health Savings Plan. This is a plan where you pay in x amount of dollars per month with a yearly maximum. You are then able to be reimbursed for non-prescription medical items, co-pays at the doctor or dentist and services that your insurance may not cover. The cost of the HSA is in addition to whatever you are paying for insurance and is considered pre-tax dollars (or is that post-tax?) which means it isn’t taxed as income.

Bottom line is that you pay a little more but are able to be reimbursed for cough syrup, your glasses and visits to the chiropractor. The downside is that you have to send in receipts and they can question your charges and not reimburse them, once you run out of money you’re on your own, and if you don’t use it all you lose it (your own money, gone).

As an entrepreneur I could have chosen a similar package, but I just could not afford to pay for something I could potentially lose. My search for a plan for my family led me to a discount plan which cost $150 per month and came with a couple of discounts for different items like vacations, tires etc. But it was marketed to me as insurance and when I got the package and read through it, I was pissed because it required a lot of out of pocket , and I couldn’t see paying over $100 per month and then having to still pay a fee once I got to a provider!

I cancelled that plan and my search then led me to a discount plan which cost only 49.95 per month and covered everything – dental, vision, prescription, chiropractic, medical, lasik, hearing aids ( you know I have that tinnitus thing and really need to get that taken care of), and cosmetic surgery (dental and medical).

Next Up: Find out how a discount plan saved me 50% on my hospitalization costs!