Your secret weapon this Open Enrollment season

Not all health insurance plans are created equal. That’s why when Open Enrollment season rolls around, it’s important to consider all of your options carefully.

Choosing the right health plan can be difficult. And while many 9-to-5’ers have the opportunity to obtain their health insurance through an employer (making the process a wee bit easier), the roughly 67.6 million freelancers living and working in the US are forced to take Open Enrollment head-on, doing the grunt work for themselves. 

Aside from some of the more well-known differences found among health plans (think network type and premium prices), there are a few other very important pros and cons to consider before signing on the dotted line.

Our favorite? Whether a plan is health savings account (HSA) eligible, of course!

Reducing costs with your HDHP and HSA

In order to be HSA eligible, the plan you select needs to be considered a “high deductible health plan,” or HDHP. Unfortunately, not even all HDHPs are created equal, and some do not offer an HSA pairing option. So be on the lookout for that HSA eligible tag, or ask your insurance provider before enrolling in your health plan.

If you enroll in an HDHP, you’ll likely pay more for healthcare services and items prior to your insurance kicks in. But the flip side of that is if you obtain an HDHP that’s HSA eligible, you can pay that deductible, plus other eligible health expenses, using the funds from your HSA. Bingo! The HSA is the perfect companion to an HDHP.  It’s a tool that helps you set aside tax-free savings for both planned and unplanned health expenses.

The tax-free machine

HSAs reduce your overall taxable income. 

How? Well, whatever you contribute to your account is not subject to federal income tax, you can spend that money on eligible health products and services without paying tax, and the funds invested in your HSA grow tax-free, too. More on how (and why) you might want to choose an HSA eligible plan here.

But much like HDHPs, not all HSAs are created equal. Some are… better than others.

Enter: Starship.

Here’s why to choose Starship

We’ve customized our HSA to be the most user-friendly experience on the market. You can be sure we’re heads above the competition.

• Starship is a free HSA with no hidden fees
• We’ll give you a beautiful card as well as a digital wallet option
• Pay yourself back for eligible health services and expenses right from within the app
• Simple card management right from within the app
• Receipt storage for short- and long-term record keeping 
• We’re portable – no matter your employer, your Starship account is always yours
• We’re flexible – even if you change insurance plans and are no longer enrolled in an HDHP, the funds in your Starship account are still yours to use
• We’re super proud of our A+ Customer Support

Want more proof we’re the HSA you’ll want to connect with this Open Enrollment season?* Check out The College Investor’s review of Starship.

*You can always sign up for an HSA. During OE, after, whenever. As long as you’re enrolled in an HDHP, HSAs are fair game.