Tested Templates & Toolstested before it ships

● Free tool · open enrollment

Health plan cost calculator: HDHP + HSA vs PPO

Compare two or three health plans on what they really cost you in a year: premiums plus what you pay for care, minus the employer's HSA money and the tax your own HSA contributions save. See the cheapest plan at your expected medical costs, in a bad year, and at every level in between.

✓ TestedSame calculation as the tested spreadsheet
Cheapest at your expected costs–

Net cost at each level of medical spending (cheapest in bold)

You pay for care up to the deductible, then your coinsurance share, never more than the out-of-pocket maximum. Net cost = premiums + care − employer HSA money − tax saved on your own HSA contribution (HSA plans; you + employer capped at the HSA limit, 2026: $4,400 self-only, $8,750 family). HSA money you put in is savings, not a cost. Not included: copays outside the deductible, per-person family deductibles, out-of-network care.

How it works

A plan with a low premium can still cost more over a year, and the reverse. For each plan, you pay for care up to the deductible, then your coinsurance share, until you reach the out-of-pocket maximum. Add twelve months of premiums. For a plan that qualifies for an HSA, subtract the money your employer puts in, which is yours, and the tax your own contributions save at your tax rate; the contributions themselves are savings, not a cost. In the example, the high-deductible plan costs $1,870 at $2,500 of care against $3,060 for the PPO, and the PPO only becomes cheaper above $18,250. The spreadsheet adds a fourth plan, an HRA credit and a printable comparison.