My old employer offered a free high deductible plan and offered to contribute $2K a year in an HSA. Was the best plan I had when I was young. I was able to put the money in an investment related account every year and would put the difference between that plan and a traditional PPO into the HSA as well. The high deductible plan offered no deductible for annual checkups and I would call doctors and price shop when I had a bad cold. I remember calling doctors and asking for a price to get some antibiotics and prices ranged from $100-$450 just to check me out and write me a prescription. Did this for about 10 years in my 20s and lucky enough only needed to max out on the out of pocket one year when I needed a surgery. Now that I’m older and have a family we use my wife’s HMO but still have a lot of money in the HSA for all our medical needs going forward. Honestly if all employers could offer something similar to young people I think it could be beneficial and self insure many for a good part of their lives.
