Nervous to pay off Medical debt all at once.
Background.
Last year I had my gallbladder removed, got me to my max out of pocket of $6550, spread across hospital, surgeon, and anesthesiologist. At the time I did not have enough in my HSA to pay all that off. All 3 of them had payment plans for 0% interest ranging from 12 months to 24 months. But one of them offered a 30% discount if I paid the bill all at once, and I did have enough for that so I paid it to get the 30% discount. The other 2 went on monthly payment plans for 0% interest. anesthesiologist was paid off last month. Still have about a year left with the hospital.
This year I had another medical emergency that included needing to go the emergency room and even get a CT Scan. This is also now on a monthly plan of 0% interest for the next 18 months. There was another bill from this emergency that I was able to pay off all at once and they offered me a 20% discount for paying it off all at once.
I currently have enough money in my HSA account to pay off this new hospital bill and last years hospital bill, but it would wipe out my HSA. What makes me nervous about paying this all off and wiping out my HSA is that I would not have enough money in there to make one lump sum payments when offered a big discount for paying all at once. Literally saved me thousands of dollars having enough in my HSA to pay those kinds of bills, plus money for things that cannot be done in payments like eye exams, glasses, medical specialized shoes for my wife's feet, ect.
My deductible is $4000, with $6550 max out of pocket. Except for last year and this year, all other years all our medical expenses came out of my pocket since it was under $4000. So having this HSA is important for my family.