[OT] Re: health insurance

[Richard Esplin]

I have private health insurance from IHC. I am not very happy with it, but it 
covers the doctors my wife uses. I also looked at Blue Cross/Blue Shield, and 
Altius. I found them all to be overpriced, undervalued, and generally 
dehumanizing.

<snip long political rant about the health insurance industry>

A non-traditional way to fund health expenses is to get a Health Savings 
Account (HSA), as signed into law by President Bush in 2003 and just now 
widely available. The idea is to have a high-deductible insurance plan for 
catastrophic coverage, and then to put tax-free money aside for day-to-day 
medical expenses. Unlike previous options, any unused money is available 
after retirement like an IRA.

Blue Cross/Blue Shield offers an online introduction about HSA's here:
http://www.ut.regence.com/agent/webinar/

IHC offers an HSA plan called HealthSave:
http://www.ihc.com/xp/ihc/insurance/needinsurance/se/semedical/

I haven't tried it yet, but I'd rather spend a little more on occassion than 
pay as much as I am currently paying to the health insurance industry and 
their minions.

Richard Esplin

On Tuesday 15 March 2005 10:26, Merrill Oveson wrote:
> I've noticed that at least a few of you have quit your regular day
> jobs to become independent consultants.
>
> What have you done about health insurance?