Unsure whether standard PPO or HDHP is the right call for me, seeking advice

I live in Massachusetts, but I work remotely for an employer based in California. For 2022 and 2023, they offered Blue Shield CA plans and I joined their PPO without thinking too much about it and it's worked alright for me. This year they're switching to Anthem Blue Cross; they said the network for out-of-state employees should be de facto identical because of Blue Card, and that should be true of both plans (I think might be part of why the HDHP plan offered is also labeled a PPO technically).

This is the standard PPO plan:

$71.54 per pay period (24 per calendar year) $0 in-network deductible, $3000 out-of-network deductible $2500 max copay in-network, $9000 max out-of-network $20 office visits in-network, 50% after deductible out of-network $20 urgent care in-network, 50% after deductible out of-network $250 in-patient hospital admission in-network, 50% after deductible out of network $0 prescription drug deductible both in and out-of-network $5 / $15 / $30 / $50 / 30% up to $250 drug copayments per prescription in-network, 50% out-of-network

This is the "PPO HSA" HDHP plan:

$38.12 per pay period (24 per calendar year) $3200 in-network deductible, $9600 out-of-network deductible $5500 max copay in-network, $16500 max copay out-of-network $0 in-network office visits after deductible, $55 medical visits prior to deductible, 30% after deductible out-of-network $0 urgent care in-network after deductible, 30% after deductible out-of-network Prescription drugs are included in medical deductible $5 / $15 / $40 / $60 / 30% up to $250 drug copayments per prescription in-network after deductible, 30% out-of-network after deductible HSA included; $4150 annual contribution limit, $1000 contribution on first pay period from employer

My initial instinct was just to choose the PPO like previous years, but the $1000 contribution to the HSA is new and I suspect that could make the HDHP the better option.

Some background information / questions about my health expenses:

Main regular expenses are mental health (right now it looks like therapy for once a week, might switch to twice a week later in the year), psychiatry (has to be once a month because one of the drugs I take is a controlled substance), and primary care doctor once every two months or so. Looking at my Blue Shield California information for this year, I've paid $1562 in health expenses (including $1254 in copayments), Blue Shield covered $6727, and there was $7563 in network savings; I suspect my habits will not differ that much next year except for a couple of things below I see my current therapist virtually through the Alma platform. So far, I've been paying out of pocket and filling claims with insurance. She says she just got approved as in-network for Blue Cross Blue Shield MA, but has had trouble with other Blue providers. Her page on Alma says she should be part of the Blue Card PPO, but I know sometimes there's weird discrepencies. Suspect whether she's in network / when a deductible could potentially be relevant to my decision, but that seems hard to determine for sure. Can't find her on the Blue Card PPO search function (because she's remote I don't have an address for her, and she's not currently working from MA even though she's still licensed there), all the phone lines / online chats for the insurance company seem to be for customers, and Alma's insurance check tool requires an insurance ID that I don't have yet. So unsure how to think about this.

Sorry for the dump, just wanted to make sure all the potentially relevant parts of the decision making were included. Would def appreciate some advice on how to think through this!

submitted by /u/Weary_Entrance_4220
[comments]