Close. I've had a high-deductible insurance plan for 4 years now. They are usually coupled with either an HSA (Health Savings Account) or an FSA (Flexible Savings Account). Your employer usually kicks in a certain amount, how much depending on what type of coverage you pick; single, couple, family, etc. The two accounts are different.
With an FSA the amount you decide to contribute for the year is available on day 1 of that calendar year. You can use it to pay bills for service rendered during that calendar year. You have until the end of March the following year to do so. Any money not used by that time is lost. They try to justify this by saying employee turnover, and those who use their full amount and leave before actually contributing all of it, offsets the leftovers lost. Any leftover money goes to Uncle Sam.
With an HSA the amount available is realtime. Since your employer's contribution is usually on day 1, you don't start with nothing, but it's not the full yearly amount either. HSAs do not dictate when bills can be paid with what money. It's yours to use, even if you change employers. It rolls over year to year and you never lose that money until you spend it. What else is nice is you can change your contribution every pay period if you want. Since you haven't spend money not contributed, you're not locked in either. This flexibility is very nice. For many reasons listed, HSAs are preferred. I had one and my company change to an FSA due to cost savings on my employer's side. Sucks but I still like the high deductible plans. It forces you to shop for competitive prices which, I believe, drives down the overall costs of health care.
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