Let the Government Pay Part of Your Pritikin Stay

It was 25 years ago that Dave and Jody Johnson, both high school teachers in Upstate New York, read the bestseller The Pritikin Program For Diet & Exercise and thought, "This makes sense. This is how we ought to live."

Someday, the couple decided, they'd go to the Pritikin Longevity Center in Florida. "What better vacation?" Dave, now in his late 50s, often dreamed.

But for a long time that vacation never happened, even though over the last several years Dave put on weight and Jody started taking medication for blood pressure. Teachers' salaries only go so far, and the couple was raising three kids, two now in college.

Health Savings Accounts

Then a year ago, the Johnsons realized they actually had the money for a Pritikin getaway, or at least a good portion of it. As part of their health care plans at work, both had signed up for Health Savings Accounts, or HSAs, which allowed them to set aside nearly $6,000 pre-tax dollars from their paychecks each year for health care expenses. A trip to Pritikin, they discovered, qualified as a health care expense.

Big Tax Break

What's more, they realized that they could shave about 25% off the cost of their stay at Pritikin because they had pocketed about $2,000 in pre-tax savings thanks to their HSA accounts. "How great to realize that that $2,000 was coming back to us, and not to the government, and that we could use that money for Pritikin," says Jody.

The U.S. government would be proud to know that the Johnsons made good use of its money. In June, right after school got out, the couple flew to Pritikin for "two weeks of a little bit of heaven," says Dave. And much more. Today, nearly nine months later, Dave's dropped from a size 42 to 34 waist. And Jody's completely off her blood pressure meds.

"Going to Pritikin was unquestionably the best thing we've ever done for ourselves," smiles Dave. "And to think that it all came about because of the government."

Growing Popularity of HSAs

In recent years, the number of Americans investing in HSAs has skyrocketed. Between 2004 and 2005 alone, there was a seven-fold increase in the number of people covered by HSA-type insurance plans, from 438,000 to 3.2 million individuals, according to the America Health Insurance Providers.

By 2010, the U.S. Treasury Department predicts, there will be 14 million Americans utilizing HSA accounts.

How HSAs Work

HSAs are part of many employee benefit packages. Growing numbers of Americans who are self-employed, unemployed, or retired are also taking advantage of them.

An HSA works more or less like an IRA account, only it's for health/medical expenses. Having an HSA allows you to set aside up to $3,000 ($6,000 for couples) per year on a pre-tax basis (dollars that are deducted from your taxable earnings). That money goes into your HSA account and is available for your use for medical expenses, including preventive measures such as the Pritikin Program.

Another benefit of HSAs is that the funds in the account carry forward if not used, and any earnings in your account further increase the tax-free balance spent on health/medical services.

The caveat: You need to have a high deductible health care plan to qualify for an HSA. But nowadays many employees are actually opting for high deductible plans over "first dollar" (no deductible) plans because the monthly premiums on high deductible plans are usually substantially cheaper and can ultimately mean dollars saved by year's end.

Many among the self employeed and retired are also saving hundreds, even thousands, of dollars with high deductible plans combined with HSAs. Do keep in mind that you cannot set up an HSA if you have Medicare because Medicare is "first dollar" health care coverage.

A second caveat: You need to spend HSA money solely on medical and health expenses. But what you can spend it on is pretty liberal. In particular, you can use it, as the Johnsons did, for weight-loss programs as long as the program is "treatment for a specific disease diagnosed by a physician (such as obesity, hypertension, or heart disease)," writes the IRS.

Saving Up To 34% of Pritikin Longevity Center Fees

"As with any new tax benefit, it's important to consult with your tax advisor, but we're certainly seeing more and more of our guests here at Pritikin using their HSAs to pay for medical and program fees and even a portion of their hotel and travel costs," notes Hubert Wewer, General Manager at the Pritikin Longevity Center. "By paying with pre-tax dollars, they're saving up to 34% of the cost. That's pretty significant."

HSAs and Pritikin Online Membership

HSA dollars may also apply to other Pritikin Programs, like the new online membership My Pritikin, in which people receive daily coaching via the Internet from the physicians, registered dietitians, chefs, psychologists, and exercise physiologists at the Pritikin Longevity Center.

"The point here is that the government wants people to become better health care shoppers, and it's willing to put its money where its mouth is by allowing health care costs to be paid on a pre-tax basis," says Hubert Wewer.

Ultimately, the really good news about HSAs is that everyone benefits. First off, the government envisions huge savings. "Preventing diseases like diabetes and heart disease with programs like Pritikin would, in the long run, significantly help balance the federal deficit," points out Mr. Wewer.

"As Nathan Pritikin told Congress more than 30 years ago, preventive lifestyles like Pritikin would save our country billions because no longer would we have the crushing burden of millions of people needing lifelong prescription medications and shockingly expensive hospital procedures like angioplasties and coronary bypass surgeries, not to mention amputations and kidney dialyses, the result of end-stage diabetes.

"Yes, we're in a health care nightmare right now. But the good news is that the current administration in Washington is holding meetings right now regarding the important role that prevention could play in leading us out of this nightmare. Much work remains, but we're on the right track."

In addition to the government, HSAs benefit individuals. With the help of HSAs, many more people like Dave and Jody Johnson can take advantage of health retreats like the Pritikin Longevity Center for thousands of dollars less.