My employer and I pay these corporate mega giants every pay period for the privilege of them paying for my care. What do I get in return? Oh I still pay out of pocket until deductible met. Oh even after deductible met, there’s an out of pocket maximum. Only then will insurance fully kick in. Oh and you can only pick “in network” providers, otherwise another set of complex policies and limits take effect.
???
They create the rules. Make it as complex as possible for all parties (ie, medical coding/billing). Doctors get screwed as much as possible. Cost of medical care artificially inflated due to dedicated teams and high amount of time spent to properly code and bill each visit. Insurance companies even have dedicated teams to deny as many claims as possible. Want that expensive treatment for your rare illness covered? Insurance will fight your doctor until either you or doctor give up, pay out of pocket, or just forego the treatment completely.
We may have the most advanced healthcare in the world. But it’s largely not accessible, and it shows in world health care statistics
Companies I've worked for will also match up to a $500 contribution, so it's free money.
On top of that, the HSA is a triple tax advantaged account (even better than a Roth IRA), so you contributions are tax-free (lowers your taxable income today), the growth is tax-free (no capital gains), and withdrawals are tax-free (for medical expenses). You can invest the money in the HSA in index funds and such. As an investment account, it's as good as you can get.
If you're healthy young person who has enough cash to pay up to the deductible amount (mine is $2500 but depends on your plan) for unforeeseen medical expenses, and have a company match, you should at least contribute to a HSA up to the match amount. It's free money. And hold on to it until retirement. You also don't lose the HSA value when you switch or lose jobs.
Also if you do need to withdraw from the HSA for health expenses, you can. Although if you can afford the expenses, just hold on the medical receipts and leave the money in the HSA to grow. If you do need to do a large withdrawal, gather up your medical receipts and you can withdraw up to that amount with no penalty.
At Google the HSA is cheapest for almost everyone, whether you are a single person with almost no health expenses or a family with high expenses.
Try it yourself:
https://www.hsabank.com/hsabank/Learning-Center/HSA-Savings-...