Under Obama, (Health Savings Accounts) HSAs became more restrictive and the yearly maximums individuals and families increased, but at a very slow rate. If you have an HSA compatible health plan, sometimes called an HDHP, that allows you to bank tax free money in a savings account to pay for many things medically necessary. That includes Dental, Vision, Chiropractic, Acupuncture, as well as prescription drugs, and durable medical equipment (ie;CPAP machine, hospital type equipment, etc..) Well, the list of qualified medical expenses just got a lot larger.
HSA money can be used for things like gym memberships and over-the-counter (OTC) medications
The House of Representatives adopted two health care bills that expand HSAs like we’ve never seen. H.R. 6199 and H.R. 6311 will help not only HSAs, but Health Reimbursement Arrangements (HRAs), and Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAs). Employers can also allow employees to transfer balances in FSAs to an employee’s HSA account with limits of $2650 for individuals and $5300 for families, a HUGE benefit for people not to lose their FSA money that has a “use it or lose it” component. Employees working past the age of 65 and enrolled in Medicare Part A (Hospitalization part) can now contribute into an HSA, which was previously unlawful.
Catastrophic plans, sometimes called Copper Plans, will be available to everyone
Under current law, the thinner, catastrophic health plans are only available to people under the age of 30 years old. Under the new law, it would be available to everyone, no matter what your age. This will SIGNIFICANTLY lower the monthly cost for people over 30, albeit with a plan that is thin on coverage. It will be interesting to see how this plays out in the marketplace and how the pricing will be adjusted to accommodate these thinner plans. My guess….many healthy people will enroll, rolling the dice on not needing a ton of services for the year.
Love Trump or hate him, he has made some significant positive changes in the Health Insurance landscape.
Steve Brauer is the Principal at Brauer Insurance Services where he and his daughter Bonnie, help strategize Group Health Insurance Plans for companies with under 100 employees. www.brauerinsurance.com (877) 421-4325