Is This Health Care Tax Saver Back? – Aetna Inc. (AET) and More

Last week, however, HSA Coalition President Dan Perrin wrote an article arguing that Department of Health and Human Services regulations will allow plans that qualify as HSAs to be part of insurance exchanges. As Perrin notes, the regulations validate decisions from Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC), General Electric Company (NYSE:GE), and other major employers to cut health-insurance costs by offering HSAs to their workers.

Should you use an HSA?
The trade-off that everyone needs to consider with HSAs and HDHPs is where the break-even point is between a regular policy and a high-deductible policy. For most people, annual savings from lower premiums will make up part but not all of the additional cost of having to cover the initial deductible yourself. If you tend to be healthy and don’t expect to incur major medical expenses, then the HSA is a huge winner. And with catastrophic coverage kicking in once you hit annual out-of-pocket limits, high-deductible plans won’t leave you entirely uncovered.

Obviously, it’s impossible to know up front whether you’ll be better or worse off with a high-deductible arrangement. But the value of an HSA — which you can keep for health expenses and invest in throughout your lifetime without fear of forfeiting your contributions — is definitely something to consider in your overall financial planning.

The article Is This Health Care Tax Saver Back? originally appeared on Fool.com and is written by Dan Caplinger.

Fool contributor Dan Caplinger owns warrants on Wells Fargo. You can follow him on Twitter @DanCaplinger. The Motley Fool recommends UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) and Wells Fargo. The Motley Fool owns shares of General Electric and Wells Fargo.

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