Health savings accounts (HSAs for short) are a hot topic at the moment. With the US health-care system in desperate need of reform, personal health savings accounts might be the answer consumers and politicians are looking for.

Created as part and parcel of a 2003 Medicare bill, health savings accounts are designed to subsidize and even replace medical insurance as the primary means of paying for health care costs. HSAs are also intended to make health care in general more accessible to US residents in response to the overwhelming number of adults and children who do not have medical insurance of any kind.

These particular savings accounts are designed to help people set aside sizeable amount of money to cover future medical and retiree health expenses. Consumers can sign up for these accounts with banks, credit unions, insurance companies, and a number of other organizations that opt to provide them.

HSAs don’t need to be purchased, which is considered one of their major advantages of current health insurances schemes. The only product available for purchase with the HSA is the High Deductible Health Plan that covers an individual’s medical expenses exceeding available HSA funds.

As of 2005, HSAs were made available to individuals with a minimum HDHP deductible of at least $1,000. The minimum deductible for family coverage was $2,000. Annual out-of-pocket expenses were deemed to not exceed $5,100 for individual coverage or $10,200 for family coverage, although the amounts have changed somewhat in the last year. By 2006, the individual out-of-pocket expenses were increased to $5,250 maximum and for families, $10,500. Acceptable HDHP deductible are able to have first dollar coverage for preventative care.

Opening a health savings account is relatively simple but the process depends on whether you’re looking to open the account by yourself or through your employer. When you’re opening the account independently for you or our family, you need to check out the list of health insurance companies that offer the HAS-eligible plans for your state of residence. EHealthInsurance.com and most local insurance agencies allow you to compare healthcare policies for HSA accounts and it’s strongly recommended that you review your options carefully, discussing them with your family if necessary.

If you’re looking to open an HSA through your employer, the best method is to see if benefits manager of your company and talk to them about whether HSAs are currently available to company employees. Some employers are choosing to fund all or part of employee HSAs so this health insurance option definitely worth consideration and exploring.

Author: Karl Malin http://www.healthsavingsaccountsinc.com/articles/hsahottopics.htm

Tags: Credit Unions, Current Health, Family Coverage, Hdhp, Health Care Costs, Health Care System, Health Expenses, Health Insurances, Health Savings Account, Health Savings Accounts, High Deductible Health, High Deductible Health Plan, Hot Topic, Medical Insurance, Medicare Bill, Overwhelming Number, Personal Health, Pocket Expenses, Preventative Care, Retiree Health