Traditional PPOs vs. HSA Health Savings Accounts

This is always one of the first and most common questions that come up when I speak with a person that is shopping for a health plan. The first question normally is, what is the real difference in these two plan designs.

First of all, keep in mind that a Health Savings Account is a PPO type health plan. The initial difference is that an HSA plan does not have a conventional doctors office co-pay e.g. ( $10, $20, $30) or a co-payment for prescription drugs e.g. (10/25/50), (15/30/75) and so forth. Instead of the usual co-pays, the insured would receive a contracted provider discount on these services and the out of pocket expenses would be applied against the plan deductible. Normally HSA plans have 100% co-insurance vs. the traditional PPOs 80/20 type co-insurance. In many situations, the HSA plan can offer lower out of pocket expenses instead the other way around as many consumer believe. Watching an HSA video can educate the consumer on all the good points of these excellent plans.