Tap an HSA to Cover PostRetirement Medical Expenses

yahooBuzzArticleHeadline = "Tap an HSA to Cover Post-Retirement Medical Expenses"; yahooBuzzArticleSummary = "Health Insurance Quotes While many insurance experts are focused in attracting new clients, author Robert Credle is a dedicated consumer advocate for individuals in the intricate and sometimes confusing health insurance market. Ask questions and get answers at VitalOne's forum."; yahooBuzzArticleType = "text"; yahooBuzzArticleId = window.location.href; Tap an HSA to Cover Post-Retirement Medical Expenses

As U.S. health care costs continue to climb to unprecedented heights, Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) are growing increasingly popular throughout the nation. Created under the Medicare Modernization Act of 2003, HSAs allow consumers to use tax-free savings to cover medical costs while giving them more control over their health care coverage.

Attractive features
HSAs offer many valuable advantages. For one, HSA account holders can choose their own doctors and even shop around for the best deal on medical services. Plus, HSAs offer some valuable tax breaks. Contributions to an HSA plan are tax deductible, and there are no taxes on HSA investment growth or withdrawals, so long as the money goes towards qualified medical expenses.
Additionally, unlike Flexible Spending Accounts that have a "use it or lose it" catch, funds in an HSA roll over from one year to the next. This allows HSA owners to accumulate a sizable pool of money over the years which can be later tapped after retirement.

Powerful enough for post-retirement?
While HSAs are powerful plans, the jury is still out on whether these accounts can fund all of a person's post-retirement health care expenses. Most consumers don't realize just how much money they'll need to cover health care expenses after retirement.
Although Medicare helps pay for many senior health care costs, these contributions don't come close to covering all of a retiree's medical expenses. Most seniors end up paying an exorbitant amount of money out of their own pockets.
As a matter of fact, a recent Fidelity Investments study shows that a couple retiring today at the age of 65 would need 5,000 to pay for uncovered health care expenses during their retirement. That figure doesn't even include long-term care expenses. Not to mention that this amount will continue to rise along with inflation--so future retirees will have to pay even more.
Considering these numbers, it's doubtful that an HSA can fund your entire post-retirement health-care tab. However, with some clever planning, you can certainly cover a big portion of your after retirement medical expenses with an HSA.
Here are a few tips for maximizing the power of your HSA:
Start young: The younger you are when you start contributing to an HSA, the better off you'll be in post-retirement years.
Don't use HSA funds until after retirement: While you may be tempted to withdraw funds from your HSA to cover current medical expenses, try to find another way to pay for these costs. If you leave these funds in your HSA, you'll accumulate interest and investment returns--which means you'll have more money to cover health care costs in your older years when you need it most.
Wait until you're 65: Once you turn 65, you can use HSA funds for non-health care expenses as well without paying a penalty. These withdrawals are simply taxed as income, much like funds taken from a 401(k).
While these accounts certainly offer many benefits, an HSA may or may not make sense for you. You may want to talk with a financial professional to determine if an HSA could help you fund post-retirement medical expenses.


What's Up Doc - Finding the Best Doctor for You and Your Health Insurance
When you sign up for new health insurance coverage, it's extremely important to select the best primary doctor for you and your health plan. Not only do you want to select a competent, experienced doctor who will provide you with exceptional medical care, but you also need to ensure that he or she will provide health care services as specified under your insurance policy.
Although you may be tempted to simply choose the doctor with the office closest to your work or home, you should not take this decision lightly. Choosing the best doctor requires a great deal of research. Take the time to look into your potential doctor's credentials and find out how well they work with your specific type of insurance plan. After all, your physical and financial health could depend on it.

Different plans, different doctors
If your health insurance plan is an HMO or PPO, you'll probably be limited in your choice of doctors. These plans typically provide a list of "network approved" doctors from which you can choose your primary physician.
However, you can usually choose someone outside of your health plan's network at an additional cost. If you can't find a suitable doctor within your network, it may be worth the extra expense to do this.

Pinpointing the best doc
Here are a few steps you can take to find the most appropriate doctor for your unique healthcare wants and needs:
Get recommendations: Ask friends, family members and coworkers if they can recommend a doctor. If people you know and trust have been happy with a doctor's care, the odds are that you'll be satisfied too.
Consider going out of network: Even if a friend recommends a doctor who is outside of your health insurance network, you should add that doctor to the list of "approved" doctors you are considering. Check into all of these doctors--it may be worth the higher price tag to use an out-of-network doctor if no one within the network suits your needs.
Research credentials: Once you have a list of potential doctors, call each doctor's office and inquire about their education, training and experience. You may also want to ask about specific qualities that you are seeking in a doctor. For example, if you prefer a woman as opposed to a man, a doctor of a certain age or religion or even a doctor who attended a certain type of school, you should ask all of these questions.
Check with medical associations: You may also consider finding more information about potential doctors from the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) or The American Medical Association (AMA). These associations offer professional information about doctors throughout the country. Visit the ABMS website at www.abms.org and the AMS website at www.ama-assn.org/aps.amahg.
Find out if they're board certified: Although doctors are not required to be board certified, this is important to some patients. Doctors have to complete additional years of training in a specialty and pass an exam in order to be board certified. You can call the ABMS at 1-800-776-2378 or visit their website at www.abms.org learn more about board certification.
Learn about complaints: You may also want to contact your state department of insurance to find out if any complaints have been filed against your potential doctor.
Meet face-to-face: Once you have narrowed down your list of doctors, you should set up an introductory appointment with each of them. Although some offices charge a small fee for these types of visits, it's well worth it. This will allow you to get a feel for the doctor's personality and ask him or her questions first-hand.