[goldstategop]

The idea is if people pay directly for their health care, they're likely to get better service and lower costs for health care plans won't be in the business of pleasing a third party but pleasing the direct end consumer of their health services.

(Denny Crane: "I Don't Want To Socialize With A Pinko Liberal Democrat Commie. Say What You Like About Republicans. We Stick To Our Convictions. Even When We Know We're Dead Wrong.")

[TheCPA]

I have an HSA and they are great. The money that goes into the account is deductible in calculating adjusted gross income. If a taxpayer does not put in the maximum amount allowed during the year, the taxpayer has until April 15 (or April 17 in 2006) to contribute additional amounts up to the maximum. In this way, an HSA is similar to an IRA. Distributions from HSAs used to pay medical expenses are not taxable. HSAs do not have a "use it or lose it" requirement as do Section 125 plans.

[Gondring]

My employer has every incentive to "educate" the employees on the HSA plans...for every sucker they get to take the HSA plan, the company has to spend $800 less in premium contributions as compared to an HMO or PPO option.

The point that the HSA is a great way to go if you're healthy or wealthy really is true. For either of those groups, it's the sensible way to go, since you can save money while protecting yourself against catastrophic problems, but I wouldn't recommend it for others.

[Carry_Okie]

The proposals include allowing all taxes, including payroll taxes, to be deducted from HSA contributions; putting individually-purchased health insurance on a more equal footing with employer-purchased insurance by permitting those who buy an individual HSA policy to deduct the cost of the premium from their income taxes; and also putting individual-purchased insurance on an equal footing with that of large employers by allowing individuals to purchase their insurance out of state.

This is a great idea. Now if we could just get third party quality and customer satisfaction verification going in a big way, we could dump the bureaucrats to boot.

[jrp]

My employer offers an HSA-like option in addition to several HMO & PPO type plans. The company contributes $1000 to my HSA account each year. Unused money rolls over from year to year. If I use up the HSA money, I pay the next $800 out of pocket. After that, a traditional 90/10 policy kicks in. I pay about $36/month for this plan. If I leave the company, I do not get to keep any money leftover in the account - it reverts back to my employer. This plan is administered by Lumenos.

[q_an_a]

Buried deep in this sotry is this fact...which will cause more people to get insurance.

Furthermore, other parts of Bush's health care agenda make HSAs more accessible for the poor and sick. Bush's agenda permits a low-income family to take a refundable tax credit to purchase an HSA. It also allows small businesses and civic and religious groups to form associations that enable them to pool their resources to purchase insurance for their members. Finally, Bush enables employers to put additional contributions in the HSA of an employee with a chronic health condition.

Now if they can figure out how to make the insurance portable, Republcians will have made a geat contribution to our national well being.

[djreece]

. . . people change from health-care dependents to health-care consumers.

HSA BTTT!

[TBP]

BTTT.