The Benefits of Healthy Living

January 29, 2014

Is it just me or does it seem like people are trying to eat better and exercise more these days? I see more people jogging up and down my street. I’ve noticed more “healthy” snack options at the grocery store.

There are a lot of reasons for us to want to be healthy. For starters, healthy people tend to live longer, happier lives. They have less stress, more energy, and better love lives (so I’ve been told).

Healthier people also save money in the form of lower medical costs. Because of the lower health care costs associated with healthy people, your government, your employer, and your healthcare provider may also be interested in helping you to get and stay healthy.  Here’s how:

As a country, we would like to make sure health care is available to all Americans, but we also know that if all Americans see a doctor every time they scrape their knee, the cost of care would be astronomical.  For this reason, high-deductible health plans (HDHPs) have become more popular in the workplace. These plans, sometimes called consumer-driven health plans, charge lower premiums for the insurance but require higher payments from patients when treated.  The idea is that if consumers actually had to pay for care out-of-pocket at the time of service, they’d be less likely to visit the doctor for minor stuff.

To look at it another way, let’s say you could pay an insurer $2,000 a year and see a doctor as often as you wished at little or no cost or you could pay an insurer $500 a year and pay a higher cost whenever you did need to see a doctor.  If you are healthy and don’t need to see a doctor very often, the second option sounds pretty good—and that’s basically how an HDHP works.  The less you visit the doctor, the more you save and that’s one way it pays to stay healthy.

As a bonus, the money you save for not visiting the doctor as often can grow tax free in a health savings account (HSA). With an HSA, contributions are made pre-tax and as long as the money is used for qualified medical expenses, there is no income tax on distributions.  There are contribution limits, which include contributions made by your employer, if any. Also, if you did not make the maximum contribution for last year, you have until April 15^th to do so.

Since your employer probably helps to subsidize your health care, they have a vested interest in your health too.  That’s why more and more employers are offering their employees healthy-lifestyle incentives such as cash bonuses for exercising, eating healthy, doing health screenings, and even attending financial consultations (since money is a leading cause of stress, and stress is a leading cause of health problems).

Even healthcare providers are getting in on the healthy-lifestyle incentives.  According to my colleague Linda Robertson, our healthcare provider at Financial Finesse offers to pay us $10 a month for gym membership. (I wonder if that includes the gym in my basement.)

The point is that it pays to be healthy so check with your employer and your healthcare provider to see if they offer healthy-lifestyle incentives.  Also, check with your employer to see if they offer an HDHP.  If so, consider enrolling next fall and be sure to contribute as much as you can to the HSA that comes with it.