ACA/Obamacare Repeal/Replace Drama

[JustWinBaby]

(03-25-2017, 02:52 AM)oncemoreuntothejimbreech Wrote: The price discrimination works in the opposite direction you claimed and HSAs have zero affect on costs, so your "major transformation" amounts to less than spitting in the ocean.

I didn't say HSAs would reduce costs, I said it would reduce what you pay.  This is basic risk management - you build up a "rainy day" fund, and that allows you to take higher deductibles (and lower premiums) because you have a cushion.  Put another way, I'm talking about the concept of being overinsured.

Insurance companies make most of their money on the float from your "unsused" premiums.  Over, say, 20 years without significant claims (say when you're younger) you could have set aside tens of thousands of dollars in your own HSA that would be generating thousands in returns each year.

I don't think you understood what I was saying about price discrimination.  Look at a bill sometime for hospitalization and tests - you'll see a price for thousands of dollars (what you would pay without insurance), but your insurance company might pay only 10% of that.  Without insurance, you're hooked for $20k.  With insurance, you might pay $500.

Many corporations save money by self-insuring.  What I'm saying is HSA, combined with eliminating that artificial pricing above, would give you an opportunity to save money by self-insuring for non-catastrophic losses.  We can't really afford to do this in the existing system, because we aren't putting $2500 at risk we're risking $20k (which dramatically changes the economics).