Employer-sponsored health insurance can leave you with a false sense of security. Your out-of-pocket costs may, at first, appear more affordable and less intimidating than acquiring a policy privately. But as health care costs and insurance premiums rise for the employer, those costs get passed on to you in the form of higher deductibles, less coverage, and ultimately a risk of losing coverage altogether if you lose your job.

Maintaining COBRA premiums during the transition can be exorbitant, and if a serious illness should develop while on COBRA, it's possible other insurance companies may not approve the new policy.

Health Savings Accounts can provide an affordable alternative that doesn't go away when the job ends and is ideal for family coverage. Additionally, HSAs can travel with you from job to job, and are not lost should your job change. A HSA combines a qualified High Deductible Health Plan (HDHP) with a tax-favored savings account.

Money in the savings account helps you pay for your health insurance deductible and routine medical expenses. HSAs are 100 percent tax-deductible, as long as your HSA funds are used for eligible medical expenses.

The benefits of Health Savings Accounts:

Choosing a more Affordable health insurance plan that incorporates a HSA has many rewarding benefits. Below is a list of benefits as published recently in the Chicago Tribune Newspaper.

• Tax-free accounts could accumulate money over several years and turn into a sizable health-care nest egg for healthy people with low medical expenses.
• Consumer is more likely to question health-care expenses that currently do not get much scrutiny.
• High-deductible policies that must be linked with HSAs tend to be cheaper.
• May be attractive to young, healthy people who are uninsured.
• With incentives, could drive down cost of insurance for small-business employees.

Author, Craig Stiff, Marketing Director for Lifespring Health, writes on the benefits of Health Savings Accounts as an alternative to expensive Health Insurance Policies. More information can be found at www.LifespringHealth.com.