ER visit + emergency surgery + 2 night hospital stay = $$$$$$$
I eat my own cooking. So when I recommend signing up for a high-deductible health plan, maxing out your HSA and paying out-of-pocket for medical expenses, it’s because I do that too.
It’s also easier said than done with little to no medical expenses.
I haven’t gotten the final bill yet, but I’m 99% certain that my Sunday afternoon appendectomy will exceed our $3,000 deductible.
So that’s $3,000 out of my pocket right off the top.
After $3k, our co-insurance kicks in so Aetna will pick up a lot of the costs, but not ALL of the costs.
I’ll have skin in the game until I chip in another $2500 and then Aetna will pick up 100% of the costs after that.
So I’m expecting Sunday to cost me $5500.
This is the worst-case scenario for the HSA strategy, which means this is my moment of truth – do I dip into my HSA to pay for it or pay for it out-of-pocket?
Not even a question. 100% unequivocally paying out-of-pocket.
$5500 will grow to $37,000 in 20 years.
If I leave it in my HSA to grow, I won’t pay capital gains taxes which means I’ll save about $9k in taxes.
Not much of a decision really, now is it?
