Another great argument against Healthcare Savings Accounts!

[DailyGrind51]

As if earning less than 1% interest wasn't good enough reason to avoid them...



"Health care account scammer bought Bentleys, faces prison

BY ART GOLAB Staff Reporter Dec 11, 2010 12:26AM

A Bolingbrook man who left thousands of people scrambling to pay their medical bills after he stole millions from their health savings accounts will go to prison for 15 to 20 years under a plea deal entered in federal court Friday.

Jeremy Blackburn, former president and CEO of Chicago-based Canopy Financial, admitted he used the stolen money to buy a fleet of luxury autos that included two Bentleys, a Rolls-Royce, two Lamborghinis, an Aston Martin and a Ferrari.

Under the agreement Blackburn, 37, pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud.

Blackburn also used the stolen funds for home renovations, sports tickets, jewelry, watches and to buy time on a private jet, according to the plea agreement..."

http://www.suntimes.com/2786061-417/health-accounts-blackburn-savings-canopy.html

[fmlymninral]

1. i have an HSA

and it has been great for my family. I am saving 400 per month on my insurance and putting that money into my HSA. after 3 years I have an account with over 12K in it that i will be able to use when I retire. I am now able to put some of that money in investments that will allow me to get a better return. Might not be for everyone but has been a blessing for me. If your family does not go to the doctor why pay all that money to the insurance company.

[NNN0LHI]

2. 12K in it that i will be able to use when I retire ??

How much do you think one surgical procedure would cost? Say one Quadruple Bypass surgery or something? Any idea?

Don

[fmlymninral]

3. my plan

has a deductible of 5000 then insurance pays 100% so i have coverage for any catastrophic sickness like you mention. HSA accounts are only used when in conjunction with high deductible health plans.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

5. Then you must have some miracle HSA that is not available in Minnesota:

Here the HSA accounts charge the same high premiums as the rest of the insurance policies AND you have to put $200 a month in the bank on top of that to make it work.

No thanks.

[TNDemo]

6. Our HSA is the same way.

$5000 deductible. We have so much deducted each month and the company matches it. The $5000 built up pretty quickly. We have had it about five years and two of those years used the deductible up and it was 100% thereafter. I have had a lot of expense this year and it's been great to have everything covered once the deductible was met. We nearly went under financially when the kids were little and we had to pay everything up front and hope for a reimbursement. Co-pays came later and that was better but since there is the debit card to use for medical expenses it feels like it doesn't affect our personal finances. I would like to think we would have a lot saved in the HSA but in reality we are probably going to use up that deductible more often than we would like. Still works for us, though.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

7. If it's employer-provided, then it's not an HSA--it's an FSA (flexible spending account)

An HSA is for the self-employed or people who do not have employer-provided insurance.

The FSA is a better deal than an HSA, but still a far worse deal than single payer.

[fmlymninral]

8. employers can have HSA also

FSA's must be spent each year or lost. HSA's work like an IRA and can carry a balance from year to year. HSA help small business provide insurance with out the high expense that traditional co-pay plans have.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

9. But for those of us who are self-employed, they cost more than regular insurance

That's what I'm saying. They're a bad deal unless your income is a lot higher than mine--like most Bush administration initiatives.

[fmlymninral]

12. not for me

I am self employed and it costs me the exact same amount as regular insurance but i have saved over 12k in my HSA over the last three years. regular insurance was 895 for the 5 of us, high deductible plan 495 and i funded my HSA account with the other 400 dollars.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

14. In my case, the premium would have been unaffordable, given my age

plus the need to add another couple of hundred that could be used only for medical expenses. Couldn't swing it. The tax break didn't help at all when I needed cash in hand NOW for rent, utilities, gas, groceries, etc.

If you can afford to set aside over eight hundred a month and think it's a good deal, then you're more affluent than I am.

All an HSA does is prepay your deductible. Big whoop.

[RB TexLa]

11. And you can pay out of pocket for medical services and keep the money in the HSA. Kind of making it

an additional tax deferred IRA.

[Pathwalker]

4. Ours works great for us. We use it for co-pays, and medical devices

we've been prescribed. Helped pay the co-pay on my husband's c-pap machine, the deductible on 2 MRIs for me, plus 2 expensive scripts I need every month. Of course, since we actually use it, BCBS has gotten pissy about it, demanding extra receipts for some services. We fax them the EOBs, and they go away. We've used it up every year, but since we can get the entire amount right away, while paying for it throughout the year - it works very well for us. But then, we're not as young and healthy as we once were.

[RB TexLa]

10. Where do you get 1%? If you invest the money well and keep an eye on the investments

you do much, much better than 1%.

The fact that there was a criminal who used HSA's to steal doesn't really say anything about HSA's.

[DailyGrind51]

13. It depends on whether you trust the "free market" with financing your health care expenses.

The "1%" is about what an FDIC insured CD earns these days. Other than government bonds, I would not trust anything else.

[RB TexLa]

15. So it comes from your self imposed limitations on investing. But it's not the return, just the only

return you would go for.