Save Thousands Annually on Health Insurance and Medical Care.

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Save Thousands Annually on Health Insurance and Medical Care.

The high cost of health insurance is making headlines again. While inflation has been a major problem since the pandemic, the rising rate of medical care and medical insurance has been a crisis for more than a decade. Health care debt is the biggest reason cited for personal bankruptcy filings, according to many experts. This blog provides resources, tips and strategies to save thousands annually on our healthcare premiums, receive a tax deduction, invest for tax-free capital gains, and all while promoting greater health.
 

As you can see in the chart above, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, the average 40-year-old is spending about $644/month on her health insurance premium cost. That’s $7,728 every year.
 
According to the CDC, $4.9 trillion is spent annually on healthcare (with a projected $5.3 trillion in 2024). 90% of the expenditures are on people with chronic and mental health conditions. At 18% of GDP, the US spends more on healthcare than any other nation in the world, with worse outcomes than other developed world countries. According to multiple sources, the US has the lowest life expectancy, the highest rate of preventable and treatable deaths, the highest infant mortality rate, and the highest, chronic disease burden, combined with an obesity rate that is twice the OECD average. While these facts are startling and horrifying, there are remedies that will promote greater health and strategies that reduce the amount that we must spend on health insurance. Getting more informed about our options can result in a higher FICO score and lasting personal wealth, in addition to longevity.
 
Here are the things I’ll cover in this blog.
 
The High Cost of Health Insurance and Healthcare
Health Savings Accounts
Nutrient-Dense Food
Student Gardens
Community Gardens
Fast Food, Obesity and Disease
 
And here is more information on each one of these topics.
 
The High Cost of Health Insurance and Healthcare
$7,728/year is a lot of money. For families, the cost can be even more. At the same time, if we don’t have health insurance and we end up having to go to the hospital that could bankrupt us. There is a way to lower premium costs, while keeping coverage – with an option that is not advertised very often in the mainstream media – the Health Savings Account (see below).
 
A lot of people are under the impression that their employer pays for their health insurance. It is more common for an employer to sponsor the health insurance program and contribute to it but not pay the entire amount. Most of the time our cost comes out of our paycheck and goes directly to the insurance company. So, it’s very important to check our W-2 statement to see how much we might be spending. Once we have a greater understanding of the bills we’re paying without knowing it, we can start keeping more of that money with more-informed choices. One of the easiest ways to stop making the health insurance company rich at our own expense is to open a health savings account.
 
Health Savings Accounts
If we are healthy and spending an arm and a leg on health insurance, purchasing a very high-deductible health insurance plan with a Health Savings Account:
 
* Could save us thousands of dollars every year,
* Offers a triple tax advantage (tax-deductible contributions, tax-free growth and tax-free withdrawals)
* Is the best long-term health care plan – something we can keep into retirement and can will to our heirs.
 
Health savings accounts work alongside a high-deductible health insurance plan to lower the premiums – but to also start building up our own personal wealth, which can be used to cover the higher deductible and out-of-pocket expenses. Many HSA owners save thousands, some even tens of thousands, annually in health insurance premiums.
 
HSAs work better for healthy people who are committed to building up the assets in their HSA. After we have a couple of years’ worth of total out-of-pocket expenses, we might consider investing for growing and compounding our gains. Learn more in the Congress.gov report or email [email protected].
 
The HSA works best when we treat it as a way to build long-term wealth rather than something we dip into every time we go to the doctor. Another tip is that I like to establish my HSA at a brokerage, where I have more options for investing than might be offered through the employer or the health insurance company.
 
Nutrient-Dense Food
Exercising and eating right is a well-known mantra for health. However, eating right also requires understanding the difference between empty calories and nutrient-dense food. As one example, the U.S. recently announced plans to phase out the petroleum-based color dies that are rampant in a lot of the packaged foods, including chips, mac & cheese, sports drinks and candy. According to HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. “These poisonous compounds offer no nutritional benefit and pose real, measurable dangers to our children’s health and development.” 
 
There has been a plethora of studies that have shown that regeneratively grown organic food is nutrient-dense, without the toxic chemicals (pesticides, herbicides and other inputs) that are commonly used for growing conventionally. Studies have found links between insecticides and Diabetes 2, obesity and even autism. Some people worry about the higher cost of regeneratively grown organic food. However, if we factor in the amount spent on health insurance and healthcare, investing in food as preventive medicine could be a smart, lucrative strategy. Healthy individuals pay lower premiums for healthcare coverage. Health is the best health insurance.

Another way to lower the costs of eating fresh, nutritious produce is to join a community garden. (Good Neighbor Gardens is a nonprofit in San Diego that will do this for you.) If we want to promote health in the next generation, we can start by improving the nutrition in our school lunches.
 
Student Gardens
Green Our Planet hosts the largest student-run farmers market in the United States every year in Las Vegas. That organization helps schools to save water by eliminating the carpet of grass and uses crowdfunding to cover the cost of planting student gardens. The Edible Schoolyard, founded by Alice Waters in Berkeley, California, has great garden and composting curriculum for schools. Damers First School in Poundbury, England does all of this and more, using the proceeds of their student gardens, compost and beeswax cling film products to fund their own nature garden and power their school with solar. Around the world, we’re seeing parents, teachers and administrators come together to make learning more fun and meals more nutritious and delicious. (While on a tour of The Edible Schoolyard in Berkeley, the tween student tour guide told me her favorite snack was kale pesto.) As Dr. Sherridan Ross, the founder of the Compton Community Garden, is fond of saying, “Kids love eating fresh vegetables that they grow.”
 
Learn more about these success stories in the Eco Kids episode of the Earth Gratitude docuseries at EarthGratitude.org.

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Community Gardens
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Ron Finley quite famously planted his own Garden of Eden in the verge between the sidewalk and the street in South Central LA. Finley, like some urban dwellers, lives in a community rife with fast food joints and dialysis clinics, while a fresh tomato can’t be found for miles. Compton Community Gardens has free gardening classes taught by a master gardener (Dr. Sherridan Ross) and offers garden plots for a small semi-annual fee. The Compton fire department has a few garden beds there. The executive directors harvest a few beds for gleaning and food distribution to individuals in need. Getting master gardening tips from Dr. Sherridan Ross is priceless. Click to check out a few of his tips on the Earth Gratitude Instagram account.

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Fast Food, Obesity and Disease
Fast food has a lot of empty calories and trans fats. According to the CDC, there is no level of trans fat that is good for us. Fast food has been linked to an increase in cardiovascular disease, Diabetes 2 and obesity.
 
Organically grown and ripened food that is eaten in season tastes better, in addition to being better for us (after we kick the sugar/salt addiction that is common in fast food). The money we think we’re saving by eating on the cheap is costing us in health insurance premiums, poor health, more visits to the doctor, pharmaceuticals, and weight loss jabs. When it comes to our health, it doesn’t pay to be penny wise and pound foolish.
 
Bottom Line
Healthy Americans can save thousands annually on health insurance premiums by getting a high-deductible plan with their own health savings account. I only wish more people knew about this. (Gary S. Becker was the one who apprised me of this over two decades ago.)
 
Most of us are aware of the time-proven trope, “Eat right and exercise.” However, how many of us are aware of that eating right is not just about eating our fruits and veggies, but really leaning into regeneratively-grown agriculture, which has so many benefits that outweigh the additional expense. For those of us who can’t afford an extra dime on food, growing our own can be far more affordable than buying conventional food in a grocery store.
 
Kids love learning about science outside in their own garden and writing about it (language arts). Big kids, adults, who save thousands or tens of thousands annually in their budget (by choosing a health savings account with a high deductible health insurance plan and leaning into a lifestyle that supports physical fitness), are going to be leaping for joy at being able to spend thousands each year on something they love a lot more than going to the dentist or the doctor, or watching a significant portion of their paycheck get siphoned over to their health insurance company.
 
One more thing. The high costs of health insurance and medical care are not the only things that are breaking the budget. Unaffordable housing, student loan debt, transportation costs and higher food and gasoline prices are also oppressing many wallets – particularly of anyone under the age of 40. Waiting for our leaders and politicians to fix things hasn’t been working. If we want to exit the rat race and start thriving again, we must get very creative.
 
As a young single mother, I had to live my way into answers for a budget that didn’t add up. Twenty years later, those solutions are still working. I outline them in my book, The ABCs of Money, 6th edition. I also have a complimentary Thrive Budget videocoaching series on https://www.youtube.com/nataliepace. There you’ll find coaching on Debt Reduction, Prosperity & Abundance and How to Live More Sustainably. Email [email protected] for additional information.


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Email [email protected] or call 310-430-2397 to learn more and register. Learn the 15+ things you'll master and read testimonials in the flyer on the home page at NataliePace.com. Register with friends and family to receive the best price. ​

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Click through to the flyer to learn more. Call 310-430-2397 or email [email protected] for pricing, additional information and to register. Register by Nov. 30, 2025 to receive the best price.

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Natalie Pace with her son on Good Morning America discussing housing solutions.

​Natalie Wynne Pace is an Advocate for Sustainability Financial Literacy & Women's Empowerment. Natalie is the bestselling author of The ABCs of Money (6th edition) and The Power of 8 Billion: It's Up to Us, and is the co-creator of the Earth Gratitude Project. She has been ranked as a No. 1 stock picker, above over 835 A-list pundits, by an independent tracking agency (TipsTraders). Her book The ABCs of Money remained at or near the #1 Investing Basics e-book on Amazon for over 3 years (in its vertical), with over 120,000 downloads and a mean 5-star ranking. The 6th edition of The ABCs of Money and the 2nd edition of Put Your Money Where Your Heart Is (2nd edition) are the most recent releases of these books. Follow her on Instagram. 
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Natalie Pace's easy as a pie chart nest egg strategies earned gains in the last two recessions and have outperformed the bull markets in between. That is why her Investor Educational Retreats, books and private coaching are enthusiastically recommended by Nobel Prize winning economist Gary S. Becker, TD AMERITRADE chairman Joe Moglia, Kay Koplovitz and many Main Street investors who have transformed their lives using her Thrive Budget and investing strategies. Click to view a video testimonial from Nilo Bolden.​​

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Important Disclaimers
Please note: Natalie Pace does not act or operate like a broker. She reports on financial news, and is one of the most trusted sources of financial literacy, education and forensic analysis in the world. Natalie Pace educates and informs individual investors to give investors a competitive edge in their personal decision-making. Any publicly-traded companies, funds or projects mentioned by Natalie Pace are not intended to be buy or sell recommendations.

ALWAYS do your research and consult an experienced, reputable financial professional before buying or selling any security, and consider your long-term goals and strategies. Investors should NOT be all in on any asset class or individual stocks. Your retirement plan should reflect an age-appropriate, diversified wealth plan, which has been designed strategically, with the assistance of financial professionals who are familiar with your goals, risk tolerance, tax needs and more. The "trading" portion of your portfolio should be a very small part of your investment strategy, and the amount of money you invest into individual companies should never be greater than your experience, wisdom, knowledge, patience and diversified strategy.  
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Information has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable. However, NataliePace.com does not warrant its completeness or accuracy. Opinions constitute our judgment as of the date of this publication and are subject to change without notice. This material is not intended as an offer or solicitation for the purchase or sale of any financial instrument.