HSAs and Choice

innonate:

For the first time in my life, I don’t have Dental Insurance.

I do, however, have an HSA which can be used for all dental-related expenses.

Today, I went to my 6 month dentist appointment. At the start, they wanted to give me my yearly x-ray, and so — now that I’m in control of my medical expenses — I questioned the necessity of them.

In the end I decided to spring for the extra $50 and get the x-rays done. But it was my choice, since it was my expense (I wouldn’t have questioned it if I knew my insurance was paying for them regardless).

As it turned out, I have a cavity on one of my back teeth (floss, people!) which they wouldn’t have found without the x-ray. If they wouldn’t have found it, over the next months it would have gotten worse, and then my problems — and personal expenses — would have gotten much worse.

I don’t know what it means — and I certainly don’t know if there are any implications for the current Health Care debate — but this experience was very empowering for me. I got to make a decision about my health expenses and in the end, I win.

This is the goal. However, this will not happen with Obama’s healthcare reforms. If everyone is “covered” and HSAs are essentially banned, you will be spending other people’s money and won’t care how you spend it. Therefore, healthcare spending will continue to skyrocket because the health insurance industry will be mandated to cover the equivalent of your oil changes. We have to get the insurance industry out of micromanaging healthcare. The cost of micromanagement far outweighs the supposed benefit of having expensive “easy” access. Enjoy this while it lasts. It is the ideal and what we’ll be providing with Hello Health, but essentially made useless under healthcare “reform.”