I wanted to give you an update on my current health insurance situation for those of you considering a similar path.
Last year I had insurance through a small group plan for my real estate business. It has become increasingly expensive and our family of 4 was paying over $2,200/mo for a PPO plan. I knew I needed to make a change.
I went back to an idea I had in the previous newsletter I wrote about this.
The idea was to stack two types of health plans.
- An ACA HMO Bronze insurance plan with premium tax credits (low cost)
- A ministry health sharing plan (broader network)
The reason I didn’t do this last year is because the ACA plans didn’t offer an HSA option. That’s been very important to me over the years because I contribute the maximum to an HSA each year and then let the money grow tax free. Just the growth of the HSA has nearly covered all of my medical expenses I’ve had since starting the contribution (essentially making all my medical expenses free).
The good news is that for 2026 the ACA Bronze plan offered an HSA option. That’s when I decided to switch.
Starting on January 1 of this year, I enrolled in a low-cost ACA Bronze HSA plan with premium tax credits AND I enrolled in a Samaritan Ministries Basic plan.
My monthly premiums are over $1,200 less than they were last year and I’m still happy with my coverage. While I could’ve just gone with the ACA plan, I stacked the health sharing plan for more broader coverage (while recognizing it’s not actually insurance).
The healthcare landscape is regularly changing so I’ll keep evaluating as I go, but I’m thankful for the savings this year.
