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Deschutes County residents now have a 2017 health insurance option that lets them contribute money to a health savings account.

Atrio Health Plans announced Monday it received approval from the Oregon Department of Consumer and Business Services to sell an HSA-qualified health insurance policy for 2017.

Prior to the announcement, none of the individual policies being sold in Deschutes, Crook or Jefferson counties would have allowed enrollees to contribute to HSAs — tax-exempt savings accounts people can use to pay for out-of-pocket medical expenses their health insurance policy doesn’t cover. That’s still the case in Crook and Jefferson counties.

Money in HSA accounts rolls over to the following year regardless of one’s health insurance policy, but without a policy that’s HSA qualified, people can’t add money to those accounts. They can still withdraw money from the existing accounts, however.

Atrio CEO Ruth Rogers Bauman said the new policy, called the Oregon Bronze 6350 HSA plan, will only be available outside of HealthCare.gov. The company is giving people until Dec. 31 to enroll in the policy for coverage that’s effective Jan. 1.

The general deadline to enroll in coverage effective Jan. 1 is Thursday. Open enrollment, the time period during which people can switch their health insurance policies without having major life changes, ends Jan. 31.

HSA accounts, which let users deduct the money they add from their income taxes and withdraw money tax-free, are a good idea for people who are self-employed or those who went into early retirement but don’t yet qualify for Medicare, Bauman said.

“It’s a good way to get a lower-cost premium, so monthly you’re not putting out so much, and then you’re able to save for the unexpected,” she said. “That’s what I would be doing if I were retired right now.”

Jake Sunderland, spokesman for the state’s Department of Consumer and Business Services, which regulates insurance, said when his agency learned there would be counties with no HSA-qualified policies in 2017, it put out a call to insurers encouraging them to offer the policies. Atrio was the only one that agreed to do so, he said. Officials then worked with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to work out the details.

People who have already enrolled in 2017 policies can still cancel and switch to Atrio’s policy. If they paid their first month’s premium, the company will reimburse the money, Sunderland said.

HSA accounts are designed for people whose health insurance policies leave them with high out-of-pocket expenses, so the Internal Revenue Service sets guidelines that require the policies have appropriate deductibles and out-of-pocket maximums. In 2017, HSA-qualified policies cannot have out-of-pocket expenses that exceed $6,550 for an individual or $13,100 for a family. Atrio’s new policy caps out-of-pocket spending at $6,350 for an individual and $12,700 for a family.

— Reporter: 541-383-0304,

tbannow@bendbulletin.com