Health insurance ?

[gettinthere]

Originally Posted by hellosailor

gettinthere-
Not setting up anything now. I'm guessing your wife's employer is a Chase business customer, so Chase has someone a little sharper than the average branch CSR making sure they can supply *everything* to capture that business customer. Little things like direct deposit, payroll...all that stuff too.[g]

More guessing. I did not receive any soliciting from Chase for any other products. The HSA account was not set up by her employer but by the insurance company. My suggestion was to contact the insurance company that one would be dealing with.

You say you aren't setting up an HSA but then go on to detail all the trouble one would have..."I don't know about HSA's this year, but in the past I've found that most "financial institutions" (banks, funds, etc.) give you a big blank "HUH?" when you use terms like that"


Our experience setting up the HSA through the insurance company was very easy and clear. Perhaps you need to shop for a new "financial institution".

[rebel heart]

Originally Posted by gettinthere

More guessing. I did not receive any soliciting from Chase for any other products. The HSA account was not set up by her employer but by the insurance company. My suggestion was to contact the insurance company that one would be dealing with.

You say you aren't setting up an HSA but then go on to detail all the trouble one would have..."I don't know about HSA's this year, but in the past I've found that most "financial institutions" (banks, funds, etc.) give you a big blank "HUH?" when you use terms like that"


Our experience setting up the HSA through the insurance company was very easy and clear. Perhaps you need to shop for a new "financial institution".

I'm with you on that one.

The knowledge level of an HR staffer or bank clerk certainly isn't going to be my deciding factor in financial matters. Take the Roth 401K option that just came out. Sure it's new, and not a lot of people know it yet, but honestly that's just because they're uneducated and don't really read up on personal finance for fun.

I'd be hard pressed for someone answering a customer service phone anywhere to even be able to explain even simple concepts, like an index fund.

All insurance plans have plusses and minuses, and not having insurance has plusses and minuses. An HSA is no different. You just have to evaluate whether it's a good fit for you. If you want to wait around until a general consensus of lay people is an agreement with your financial dealings, well, I'm just glad you're not managing my finances.

[nettyjetty]

Hi, I have read all the posts (well most of them) about medical insurance but they all seem to relate to Americans, they need far greater insurance coverage due to their lack of 'free' healthcare at home. Does anyone have any advice on companies that will insure Europeans just for emergency cover and repatriation to home country, sailing only outside of the US.

[alex4522]

DAN insurance is a form of travel insurance for Diving tourists. I haven't looked at it in a while but they will cover you for a large amount if your accident is diving related but only a small amount if your problem is not diving related. The small amount is really peanuts. Travel insurance is different that medical insurance and only covers for accidents and emergencies (not urgent or elective medical problems like cancer or things like that) and is not renewable. The underlying assumption behind travel insurance is that you have medical insurance to return home to if you have an urgent or elective medical problem.

[alex4522]

For those that self-insure, several hundred thousand people leave the USA for medical treatment every year for Thailand or India where the cost is about 20% of US prices. Other places like Mexico are higher more like 40%. I attended the International Medical Tourism conference in Cyprus in Feb 2007 and got a good picture of services available around the world. The bottom line is that where ever you are, if you want to get to these cheap places where you can pay for your own treatment, you have to be able to get on an airplane and travel there. If you have had a serious accident and stuck in an ICU, or need evacuation, then you may not be able to do that.