Health Insurance Guide

This guide will help you understand Health Savings Accounts (HSAs), and how they could work for you as an insurance plan.

As poker players, many of you are probably both: 1. Self-employed and 2. Young and in generally good health.

If you meet the 2 conditions above, an HSA is ideal for you.

An HSA is basically a savings plan where you receive tax benefits for funding your own health care. This is bundled with a high-deductible health plan (HDHP).

An example is probably the best way to explain this, so here we go:

You sign up for an HSA plan through one of the many providers (Humana HSA Saver, United Health Care Golden Rule, etc).

Your monthly premium will be around $40-50 a month. In return, you get:
- a $3000 deductible
- some include preventative care costs

Now, the basic idea is that if you're in a major accident, the most you'll be out of pocket is $5000.

What about smaller care? Where does that money come from?

Every year, you can deposit a certain amount of money into your HSA. This money can be deducted from your income at tax time, so you'll effectively get a 25% discount.

Each year, if you don't use this money, it rolls over to the next year. That's right - you get to KEEP your money, rather than just spending $400 on a premium and losing it each month.

They then provide you with a normal insurance card, so when you go to the doctor or ER, you still provide a health insurance card and pay all of the normal insurance rates (which are typically lower than self-pay rates).

Overall, here are the benefits of using an HSA:
- tax advantages
- low premium cost
- you keep all of the money in your account - it's never lost
- you can visit ANY physician you want - not limited to a network
- you are protected against a catastrophic event with the HDHP

Anyone without health insurance should get something immediately. An expensive surgery could bankrupt you quickly, and these plans only cost $40-$50 a month.