How to Combine an HSA and a Health Sharing Plan

Since we began serving the Colorado area back in 2001, no cost-saving health strategy has generated nearly as much buzz as health care sharing plans. In the last decade specifically, health sharing plans have become more affordable, diverse, and comprehensive.

This has led to thousands of Americans ‘jumping ship’ from their traditional insurance, saving up to 50% on monthly costs.

But what if there were a way to make your health sharing plan even more valuable? In this blog, I’m going to share one of the best open-secrets of healthcare cost cutting. By combining an HSA and health sharing, it is possible to slash your monthly costs while saving tax-free dollars towards a stronger retirement.

Here’s how it works:

1.) Start with health care cost sharing

Hundreds of thousands of Americans are already signed up for . Also known as Health Care Sharing Ministries (HCSMs) or medical cost sharing, these plans are not actually insurance.

Instead, they are a remarkable insurance alternative that offer savings of up to 50% of monthly healthcare costs. For the most part, health sharing works a lot like traditional insurance. Simply pay your monthly share fee, cover your co-pay, and meet your IUA (deductible). The remainder of your expenses will be billed to your sharing organization.

2.) Get basic care with a MEC Plan

Because many health sharing plans lack preventative care, a large number of healthshare members choose to enroll in a Minimum Essential Coverage (MEC) plan.

MEC plans come with $0 copay preventive care and can also include low-copay sick services and emergency treatment. For healthshare members, this is a good way to “fill the gaps” of a health sharing plan. 

If your MEC plan is structured correctly, it can also be considered HSA-qualified. This means that you can pair your low-cost monthly healthcare with the savings strategy of a Health Savings Account.

Integrate a Health Savings Account (HSA) into your health care strategy

Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) are tax-advantaged savings accounts that, until recently, most health sharing members did not have access to. By combining your sharing plan, a specially designed MEC plan, and an HSA, you’re setting yourself up for considerable savings potential.

Never heard of an HSA? Here’s how it works:

• • Once you have HSA qualified coverage, your benefits manager can help you open an HSA
  • You make annual tax-deductible contributions to your HSA
  • Your contributions grow on a tax-deferred basis until you need them
  • When you incur a qualified medical cost, you can pay for it with your tax-free money

In other words, HSAs are designed to let you decide where to put your healthcare dollars. This makes them a natural fit with health sharing plans, where lower monthly costs sometimes mean paying a bit more out-of-pocket.

Compare Pricing on the Best Healthshare Plans Available

Talk to Your Advisor About Pairing Your Health Sharing with an HSA

Your Personal Benefits Manager is a valuable resource in making your health care more affordable, sustainable, and personalized.

HSAs and Health Sharing Plans are as close to a ‘natural fit’ as you’ll ever find in this business. Both create opportunity to pay less for health costs, and both encourage the kind of empowered healthcare decision making that we’re all about at ColoHealth.

The only thing you have to do is make sure you’re enrolled in the right kind of MEC plan. Call today or click here to make an appointment. We can show you what’s available and see if there are other ways we can cut your costs going into the New Year.

Here are some additional articles on healthsharing programs: Best Healthshare Plans Comparison Guide – 2021 Update | Can a Healthshare Plan Be HSA-qualified?

Here are some additional pages related to this article: MPowering Benefits HSA Health Sharing | HealthShare FAQ