Health Savings Account Awesomeness Example #2: Wisdom Teeth Extraction Edition
I love my Health Savings Account. If you are not clear on how they work, or how well they work, you are in luck as I’m willing to share my experiences with them as I need to use mine. Today’s post is my latest adventure in Health Savings Account awesomeness.
We walked into the oral surgeon’s office just before 9AM to have my son’s wisdom teeth extracted. I filled out the necessary informational paperwork and returned it to the desk. As I handed the receptionist the clipboard, she stated that she was working on the billing and would be with us shortly. I knew the cost of the procedure was going to be expensive, likely a few thousand dollars. But I wasn’t worried because I had dental insurance and a health savings account (HSA).
The bill, just over $2000, was as expected as we had obtained an initial estimate. After our insurance benefits, our copay was just under $500. While the insurance benefit was significant, a $500 out of pocket expense would require us to either take money out of our savings/emergency fund or cut our spending and save up ahead of time. However, neither of those was required. Instead, I paid the bill with my HSA debit card as teeth extraction is a qualified medical expense and can be paid for using funds from a health savings account.
My son’s wisdom teeth extraction didn’t require any out of pocket funds.
The above statement may be a little misleading, as we did contribute our own money into the HSA to begin with. However, the funds were put into the HSA pre-tax. Also, our low cost, high deductible PPO and our HSA contributions are already included in our monthly budget. If we need our HSA funds, they’re there. If we don’t use them, they continue to grow as an investment for use at a later date when we have significant medical expenses.
Maximizing Your HSA Benefits
Health insurance is a great thing, helping to reduce the overall cost of significant medical costs. However, combining medical insurance with a well funded health savings account gives you the peace of mind that have funds available to pay for any out of pocket medical expenses insurance doesn’t cover.
For more on using your Health Savings Accounts effectively, consider picking up a copy of The HSA Owner’s Manual, which only costs $8 at Amazon. Its one of the better resources out there for how you can maximize your HSA account benefits.
Do you have a health savings account? Have you been able to “hack” it to get free or greatly reduced health care costs?
Brought to you courtesy of Brock
Brock is a software engineer by day and personal finance blogger at night. He is a fitness junkie and enjoys grilling and smoking meat. Married with two children, Brock strives to improve his skills as a husband and father, and is always on the lookout to stretch his family’s budget as far as he can.
I used to have an HSA, and then it was blown up by the ACA. My HSA plan was awesome. Each month I put away an amount about equal to my premiums, which were very reasonable back then. Unfortunately, my insurer dropped my plan after the ACA became law. Now, it just makes more sense to put our family on my wife’s health plan at work. C’est la vie.