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My wife works as a dispatcher for the city police dept. The first week of August, the employees had an "all hands" meeting. They were informed that their rather nice health insurance with "Tall Tree" was canceled as of August 1st. The reason is that continued coverage for the city employees was going to cost another $800,000 for the period August to December 31st. The city didn't have the money. The replacement plan is "catastrophic" coverage plus an HSA.

My wife called with the news. I discovered that my own coverage ($600/month payroll deduction) with a FlexSpend account made her ineligible for the HSA offered. Further, since her birthday falls in July and mine in August, her coverage had always been "primary". Having "catastrophic" coverage as "primary" is a non-starter. The only reasonable option was for my wife to decline the employer provided coverage. That represents a huge cut in her compensation, but what is offered is completely unacceptable.

I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop. My company does the annual healthcare sign up in November. I'll find out if we're screwed on my coverage too.

I just found out today, that my company will now charge extra for having my spouse on my health plan, because she is eligible for coverage at her company. And the only plans they’ll offer are the high-deductible ones. I can definitely see where it’s going, I expect by 2014, it will be all gone.

Having "catastrophic" coverage as "primary" is a non-starter.

Why is a major medical plan along with an HSA a non starter? My family is covered by a similar plan. My monthly premium ($50) is low. After $3,000 of expenses, the plan covers 85% of the next $3,000. At $6,000 in expenses, I no longer have any required payments. The list of preferred providers is very large. The other plan required a monthly premium of $300 with a very poor choice of doctors.