Open Enrollment Moves That Will Improve Your Retirement

It’s open enrollment season, which means it’s time to choose your package of employer health insurance benefits. You might have the opportunity to make smart selections now that will increase your retirement security.

Employers are increasingly offering consumer-directed health plans (CDHP) to their employees.  CDHPs are medical insurance plans with high deductibles that are linked to a health savings account (HSA). According to worldwide HR firm Mercer , in 2012 CDHPs will be offered by 18 percent of firms with 10 to 49 employees and 58 percent of employers with 20,000 or more employees (these are the smallest and largest of the employers Mercer surveyed). The numbers have increased significantly from prior years.

In most cases, a CDHP is one of a handful of options, but a growing  number of employers are offering a CDHP as the only medical plan available to their employees.

“We’re expecting to see a spike in 2012 in both the number of employers offering CDHPs and in the number of employees enrolling in them,” said Beth Umland, Mercer’s director of research for health and benefits. “Employers see them as a way to provide more value to employees while at the same time managing cost.”

So what’s the benefit of using an HSA? As an employee, you contribute a portion of your paycheck to your health savings account; the money is then invested and you draw on it to pay medical bills. You can spend the money in the current year to meet your deductible or pay for medical expenses not covered by your plan. Alternatively, you can let the money stay invested and accumulate for the future, as many workers do.  According to a survey by Fidelity Investments , one-quarter of HSA account holders spend less than 10 percent of their annual contributions, allowing the balance to be carried over for future qualified medical expenses.

High Deductible Retirement Health Insurance - News


Open Enrollment Moves That Will Improve Your Retirement
Open Enrollment Moves That Will Improve Your Retirement

Employers are increasingly offering consumer-directed health plans (CDHP) to their employees. CDHPs are medical insurance plans with high deductibles that are linked to a health savings account (HSA). According to worldwide HR firm Mercer,



A Health Insurance Plan With a Retirement Kicker

Many companies also expect to fiddle with coverage, including raising co-pays and deductibles. To contain out-of-pocket costs, more employees are opting for high-deductible health plans (HDHP), which have lower upfront premium costs.



Bharti AXA General Insurance: “Critical illness product helps to make health ...
Bharti AXA General Insurance: “Critical illness product helps to make health ...

Do you offer any other product like top-up mediclaim? SB: We have a product called 'SmartHealth High Deductibles Insurance Policy' which is a variation of a top-up policy. The benefit kicks in after a deductible threshold. Customers may have retail or



District Court employees agree to contract with wage, benefit reductions

New employees will not receive retiree health care. * Health care plan premium sharing including higher deductibles and co-pays that exceed the new savings required by state law. * Retiree health benefits are reduced for active employees. Continued.



Free-Market Alternatives to Health Reform Work: Study

Rand found that patients had an incentive to cut their costs if they had high health insurance deductibles and either a health savings account or a health reimbursement arrangement. The Rand study says in a statement that roughly two-thirds of the




Open Enrollment Moves That Will Improve Your Retirement - CBS ...

It’s open enrollment season, which means it’s time to choose your package of employer health insurance benefits. You might have the opportunity to make smart selections now that will increase your retirement security.

Employers are increasingly offering consumer-directed health plans (CDHP) to their employees.  CDHPs are medical insurance plans with high deductibles that are linked to a health savings account (HSA). According to worldwide HR firm Mercer , in 2012 CDHPs will be offered by 18 percent of firms with 10 to 49 employees and 58 percent of employers with 20,000 or more employees (these are the smallest and largest of the employers Mercer surveyed). The numbers have increased significantly from prior years.

In most cases, a CDHP is one of a handful of options, but a growing  number of employers are offering a CDHP as the only medical plan available to their employees.

“We’re expecting to see a spike in 2012 in both the number of employers offering CDHPs and in the number of employees enrolling in them,” said Beth Umland, Mercer’s director of research for health and benefits. “Employers see them as a way to provide more value to employees while at the same time managing cost.”

So what’s the benefit of using an HSA? As an employee, you contribute a portion of your paycheck to your health savings account; the money is then invested and you draw on it to pay medical bills. You can spend the money in the current year to meet your deductible or pay for medical expenses not covered by your plan. Alternatively, you can let the money stay invested and accumulate for the future, as many workers do.  According to a survey by Fidelity Investments , one-quarter of HSA account holders spend less than 10 percent of their annual contributions, allowing the balance to be carried over for future qualified medical expenses.


High Deductible Retirement Health Insurance - Bookshelf

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Affordable Health Insurance Directory


High Deductible Health Insurance Plans | United Healthcare
Our high deductible health insurance plans offer an affordable way to protect your health.

High deductible health plan - Bogleheads
Bogleheads™ Retirement Planning. A High Deductible Health Plan (HDHP) is a health plan which pays nothing except for preventive care until the deductible is met. ...

High-Deductible Health Plan (HDHP) Definition
A health insurance plan that has a high minimum deductible, which does not cover the initial costs or all of the costs of medical expenses. ...

Health Insurance—Bridging the Gap
Of course, you could pay your insurance costs out of your retirement cash flow. ... HSAs combine high-deductible health insurance with a tax-free savings ...

Retirement Health Care Costs | Ameriprise Financial
Health-related expenses can deplete your retirement savings. ... This plan includes a high-deductible health insurance plan and a savings account in which ...