Health Insurance?

I may be accepting a job that does not have health insurance. What are the disadvantages of having an individual health plan? What is an HSA and how do I get one?
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Ok. Throw out all the answers except this one and StephenW's. This is what I do. The biggest disadvantage to an individual health plan is that you must qualify for it. If you've got ANYTHING in your background, ESPECIALLY prescriptions, you could be declined. Secondly is possible cost. You didn't put your age down or sex, but if you're a healthy 18-34 year old male, it will be relatively cheap. If you're a female in the same range it will be more. Why ? Because women take better care of themselves ! (you guys go for regular checkups and have more 'inside' parts that need checking, which cost money). Also, depending on your state (insurance is STATE-run) most individual health plans don't have maternity but must cover complications of pregnancy...which could be millions ! An HSA is good if you are in a high tax-bracket. Otherwise, I wouldn't bother. The reason is, the attraction for the HSA is that you can put money away into an account (see StephenW's answer) for your medical expenses (as well as dental, vision, etc whether or not they are covered by insurance) that gets interest and you can write off the contribution. Kinda like a medical IRA. But if you don't have the money to pay a high premium, you probably won't have the money to contribute to the side account. The reason an HSA is cheaper is because your deductible is higher. But, the government put limits on how high that can be which limits how much you can save. SO, Here is what you should do: Find a high-deductible PPO plan with copays for services like doctor visits and prescription coverage. Also, check to see if wellness is covered and up to what amount ($150-$500 a year is typical). Going this route, you will have coverages for things you're probably going to need on a regular basis (like doctor visits and prescriptions) while still having catastrophic coverage. But here's the neat part....by having a PPO, you will get mega-discounts on services that aren't covered by copays. What's that you say ? My real-life example is as follows: My outpatient knee surgery cost $25,000. The discounted rate was $2000 ! So, if I had a $5000 deductible, I would have paid only $2000. So, even though the insurance company didn't pay a dime, I saved $23,000 ! Of course, there are innumerable variables. I would be happy to answer questions on a "friendly" basis as opposed to an insurance broker basis (laws and stuff like that). Feel free to email me.
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