HealthCare.gov explains health plan choices, HSA rules for 2026

The smartest open-enrollment move is usually not chasing the lowest payroll deduction. It is matching the plan to how often you actually see doctors, how much cash you can absorb if something goes wrong, and whether you want the tax break that comes with an HSA. For monday.com employees spread across a global company with teams in Tel Aviv, New York, Miami, Chicago, Denver, London, Warsaw, Sydney, Melbourne, São Paulo and Tokyo, that trade-off can look very different from one household to the next.

How the main plan types differ in real life

HealthCare.gov’s plan guidance is useful because it turns alphabet soup into a simple question: how much network freedom do you want, and how much risk can you handle? PPOs generally give you more flexibility, including out-of-network care at a higher cost. EPOs usually stay in network except for emergencies. HMOs and POS plans add their own network and referral rules, which can make them cheaper on paper but more restrictive when you need a specialist or want to keep seeing a particular doctor.

That matters for a healthy single employee just as much as it does for a parent juggling pediatric visits. If you do not expect much care, a narrower network may be fine if the premium is lower and the out-of-pocket exposure feels manageable. If you already know you will need recurring appointments, a PPO can be worth the extra premium because the plan structure is built for flexibility rather than the strictest cost control.

Why HSA-eligible plans are drawing more attention

HealthCare.gov says more plans work with HSAs in 2026, and all Bronze and Catastrophic Marketplace plans are HSA-eligible. That is a big deal because an HSA lets you set aside pre-tax money for future medical costs, which can be especially valuable if you want to build a cushion for prescriptions, specialist visits or an unexpected surgery.

The IRS’s Publication 969 is the tax guide that explains how HSAs and other tax-favored health plans work. The newest wrinkle is that, for plan years after 2024, telehealth and other remote care can be covered before the deductible without disqualifying an HDHP from HSA eligibility. That makes these plans more practical for employees who rely on virtual care, including people who work hybrid schedules or travel often between offices and client sites.

For 2026, the IRS-adjusted numbers are higher across the board. The maximum annual HSA contribution rises to $4,400 for self-only coverage and $8,750 for family coverage. The HDHP minimum deductible moves to $1,700 for self-only coverage and $3,400 for family coverage, with maximum out-of-pocket limits of $8,500 and $17,000, respectively. Those figures are the core of the decision: you get tax advantages and long-term savings potential, but you accept a larger up-front bill if you actually need care.

The monthly premium is only part of the bill

CMS projects that the average Marketplace premium after tax credits will be $50 per month for the lowest-cost plan in 2026 for eligible enrollees. It also says nearly 60% of eligible re-enrollees will have access to a plan in their chosen category at or below $50 after tax credits. That sounds cheap, and for some households it is. But the monthly price does not tell the full story if the deductible is high or if the network is tight.

That distinction matters inside a company like monday.com, where employees may be balancing family care, frequent business travel and the kind of schedule pressure that comes with shipping product and supporting customers across time zones. A plan can look affordable in payroll deductions and still become expensive if one child needs regular appointments or if a specialist sits outside the network. The more useful question is not “what is the cheapest plan?” but “what will this plan cost me if my year turns out to be ordinary, busy or unexpectedly medical?”

What monday.com employees should weigh before choosing

monday.com describes itself as a multi-product platform that runs core aspects of work, and its scale is hard to ignore: more than 186,000 customers across 200 industries in over 200 countries and territories. That kind of global, fast-moving environment tends to attract employees who think in systems, and benefits selection is no different. The best choice comes from lining up plan design with expected usage, family needs and cash-flow preferences.

A younger employee with low medical use may come out ahead with an HSA-eligible HDHP if the employer contribution and tax savings outweigh the higher deductible. Someone with recurring specialists may prefer a PPO even if the premium is higher, because predictability matters more than a slightly lower monthly cost. And if you want the HSA tax advantages, you need to look beyond eligibility alone and ask whether the company helps seed the account.

That question is especially relevant here. A Glassdoor employee-benefit review suggests monday.com pays the premium on a high-deductible plan but does not contribute to an HSA. If that is true for a given employee’s coverage, the math changes fast: the premium may be covered, but the burden shifts to the deductible and to whatever money the worker is willing to set aside on their own.

A simple decision framework

The right answer is personal, but the comparison gets much better when you break it down this way:

• If you are healthy, rarely see doctors and can handle a larger deductible, an HSA-eligible HDHP may give you the best tax treatment and long-term savings potential.

• If you have frequent appointments, a preferred specialist or a family schedule that produces regular claims, a PPO may be worth the higher premium because it reduces friction and broadens access.

• If you want lower premiums and are comfortable staying inside a network, an HMO or EPO may fit, as long as the referral rules and network limits do not create surprises.

• If you want to build tax-advantaged medical savings, check both HSA eligibility and whether your employer contributes to the account, because those two pieces can change the value of the plan dramatically.

Open enrollment rewards people who look past the label on the benefits page. At monday.com, where the work is built around helping teams run better, the healthiest choice is the one that fits your life, your family and your risk tolerance, not just the monthly deduction on your pay stub.