California Health Savings Accounts and HSA Plan Information

These informative articles will give you insight on health savings accounts in California and help select the right California HSA plan for your employees.

a. HSA Account Information
1. What is an HSA? – Health Savings Accounts enable enrollees to pay for medical expenses on a tax favored basis. Learn about what an HSA is, how it works and who can benefit from using one.
2. HSA Account Trustees – Learn what to look for in an HSA Trustee, which is the places that you deposit your money. Find helpful suggestions on how to evaluate the thousands of banks now offering HSAs.
3. Tax Information – One of the benefits of an HSA is reducing your taxable income. Learn about the eligibility to open an HSA, tax savings, employer contributions, timing of contributions and eligible medical expenses.
Making HSA Contributions Tax Deductible – Unfortunately in California, HSA contributions are not tax deductible.  Legislation introduced in 2005 would have reduced the cost of health insurance for Californians.
Tax Treatment – Learn about the tax treatment of HSAs, which are federally tax deductible trusts that can be used to pay for qualified medical expenses. Interest earned on these accounts are not taxed, as long as they are used to pay for health care expenses.
b. Compatible Plan Information – Find out whice small group health insurance plans offered in California by Anthem Blue Cross, Aetna, Blue Shield, CalChoice, Kaiser and more are compatible with HSAs
1. General HSA Health Insurance Information
Why HSA Plans May Be an Option For your company California Health Savings Accounts are intended to lower the cost of medical insurance and allow an enrollee to pay for qualified medical expenses from a tax deductible savings account. Learn more about why these plans are so great.
Relative Cost – Compare the cost of insurance for a family of four in California, using different plans.
Comparison of HSA costs – How does the cost of a California HSA compare to the cost of a night in the hospital?  While these plans have very high deductibles, they can also be expensive. However, in comparison to the cost of hospitalization, the cost could be relatively inexpensive.
2. Specific HSA Compatible Health Insurance Plan Information
Blue Cross of California 4500 Plan – A well priced plan with reasonable out of pocket maximum and deductible that also covers maternity expenses. The major limitation is that it only covers visits to Blue Cross preferred providers.
Blue Cross of California 3500 Plan – offers coverage for catastrophic injury or illness along with low monthly premium, but does have a relatively high calendar year deductible.
Blue Cross of California 7000 Plan – has a high annual deductible, but generally pays 100% of medical expensive after the deductible has been met.
Aetna California HSA Compatible Plan – offers several unique features such as “embedded deductibles” and preventative care before the deductible is met.
Nationwide 2400/4800 Plan – is well-priced compared to other California health savings accounts and offers a relatively low monthly premium. Once the deductible has been met, the plan pays 100%, including prescription medicine.
Blue Shield Savings 3500 and 5200 – innovative individual and family plans that are HSA compatible and offer a “rider” Bridge Plan that pays the enrollee money should they stay in the hospital during the 12 months of coverage.

Learn more about other California health insurance topics in our articles section.