Welcome to Money As If, the “free” champagne that comes with your $4K NFL penthouse suite seats.

Today’s row:

— Jeanine

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Let’s just get this right out of the way: No. The answer is no: health savings accounts (HSAs), which let you set aside money, tax-deferred, for medical expenses, are in no way, shape, or form a solution to the looming — or perhaps booming? — U.S. health insurance crisis.

Neither are the high-deductible health care plans (HDHPs) that HSAs are designed to pair with.

I feel compelled to call that out, given our current federal government is acting like they are.

First, the GOP passed the “One Big Beautiful Bill,” which made deep cuts to Medicaid that, quite frankly, are going to jack up health insurance prices for everyone, but also, OK, sure, closed some loopholes preventing Affordable Care Act (ACA) Bronze and Catastrophic health care plan holders from opening an HSA.

Then, just this week, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced it was making it easier to buy Catastrophic health care plans — the highest of the high HDHPs that, again, quite frankly — and how do I put this? — put you one sandwich away from being uninsured.

Catastrophic health care plans are low-premium, high out-of-pocket coverage designed to insure people during medical emergencies. Yes, they cover the ACA’s ten essential benefits, but — with an exception for most preventative care — they only do so after you’ve met your deductible.

Catastrophic plan deductibles are auto-set to match the ACA’s annual maximum out-of-pocket spending limit, which, for 2026, equates to $10,600 for individual coverage and $21,200 for a family plan.

I’m gonna go out on a limb here and guess that someone who can’t afford the extra $127 a month to upgrade to a more comprehensive, though still HDHP Bronze plan (see the chart above) isn’t going to have $10,000 to $20,000 on hand to cover their medical bills if a serious illness or injury happens.

The idea the government is slow-pitching here is that you can get “affordable health insurance” — those are RFK Jr.’s words, BTW, not mine — by buying a Catastrophic plan, specifically, then successfully navigate its high out-of-pocket costs by opening an HSA.

It ignores the fact that you need to make money to save money in that HSA. The average salary in the U.S. is $66,622, as of Q4 2024. Tell me how families are supposed to bank $20,000 a year to cover medical expenses, when they’re making around $5,551 (and paying rent) (and buying groceries) (and covering utilities) (and saving for non-medical emergencies) (and satisfying a car loan) each month.

That reason is why HSAs have long been criticized for being a boon for the privileged as opposed to a path for the poor.

But even higher-income individuals should balk at the idea that this new-fangled government-endorsed strategy — which increasingly shifts cost-sharing responsibilities back to patients and brings us closer and closer to the pre-ACA era, which, remember, was a time when insurers could turn people down for pre-existing conditions — is a great way to do health insurance in this country.

For starters, even if your salary allows you to bank thousands of dollars for medical care, you’re still the one paying thousands of dollars for medical care, should tragedy strike, making you practically self-insured. (And you all know how I feel about self-insurance.)

Plus — and I alluded to this earlier and have said as much before — our health care system is a delicate, interconnected network held together by gauze and broken tongue depressors. What is bad for the goose is also bad for the gander, so if enough of your neighbors lose their health insurance or can’t pay their outstanding medical bills due to bad policy or brain worms or, I don’t know, a terrible job market, your costs will likely go up, too.

Case in point: New Mercer data out just this week finds health benefit costs for employees on work-sponsored plans are expected to rise 6.5% on average in 2026.

There’s something else that this grand new government plan being put in front of us right now ignores. It’s a bit tangential to my larger point, but I feel remiss not mentioning it, lest it leave everyone less informed.

Catastrophic plans don’t qualify for advanced premium tax credits and cost-sharing reductions (CSRs), the two key ACA subsidies that make marketplace premiums more affordable for low- and middle-income Americans than they may appear.

If you qualify for the average subsidy, you can pay next to nothing for a Bronze plan, and could even secure an affordable, and much more comprehensive Silver or Gold plan, which is a long-winded way of saying make sure you assess all your options (and don’t let the government talk you into barebones insurance that you can barely afford).

For more health insurance resources, visit my colleagues over at Investopedia — and don’t hesitate to email me with questions (at [email protected]) as open enrollment 2026 nears. I’ve covered health insurance since 2016 and am happy to help where I can, so people can find an affordable plan.

A new real estate trend called co-ownership is revolutionizing a $1.3T market. Leading it? Pacaso. Created by the founder behind a $120M prior exit, they already have $110M+ in gross profits to date. They even reserved the Nasdaq ticker PCSO. And you can invest until September 18.

Invest While You Still Can

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The 2025 highly lucrative NFL season kicked off yesterday. Get your wallets ready.

🍺 $15.02

the average price of a beer-and-hot-dog combo across NFL stadiums in 2024; no news yet on how those costs have inflated for 2025.

👕 $78

the average amount that New England Patriots’ fans spent on team merch last year, making them the cheapest fan base in the league. [Insert Tom Brady joke here.]

⁉️ $89.99

for a mystery box from online memorabilia shop Rochester Sports Autographs; the box contains either a jersey, mini-helmet, or football signed by some (?) active NFL player.

📺 $276

for a Season Pass to YouTube’s NFL Sunday Ticket, which lets you watch Sunday games outside your market and — if you’re a sports betting fan — stream multiple games at a time.

🦅 $349

for an extra-fancy Saquon Barkley jersey from NFL.com; the Philadelphia Eagle and newly minted Super Bowl champ topped the league in player retail sales last year.

✈️ $359

for a pair of tickets in the nosebleed seats to see the New York Jets take on the Pittsburgh Steelers in their home opener at MetLife Stadium this weekend.

🥂 $4,320

for two tickets to watch the Eagles rematch last year’s Super Bowl opponent, the Kansas City Chiefs, in the Arrowhead penthouse suite. TSwift selfie not guaranteed.

Nowadays, most financial takes are boilerplate. These aren't.

And, finally, today, in things I would win if I could, you know, just win things …

A layperson can’t really buy Super Bowl rings. (Well, they can, but in a sad story way, where a player put their old ring up on auction.) You can certainly thirst after them, though!

And the Eagles’ latest hardware — estimated to cost between $30,000 and $50,000 — is something else. Come for all the pretty diamonds, stay for the pop-out (and blinged) wings. Good job, Jason.

Got questions, comments, receipts, tips, thirst traps, etc. you’d like to share? Send them to [email protected].

_{This article is for educational purposes only. We don’t recommend or advise individuals to buy, not buy, sell, or not sell particular investments or other assets, as everyone’s circumstances are different. Also, it’s your money and ultimately up to you to decide the best use for it.}