[MrB]

If your question is “how do we get the best healthcare system at the lowest cost”, yes, HSA’s are the answer.

But if your question is “how do we control everyone in America”, they are not.

[G Larry]

Silly man.....you actually believe they want solutions!?!?!

They want CONTROL!
They are NOT trying to “fix” anything”!

[Mr. K]

How about we let the employee keep HIS OWN $10,000 and do whatever he wants with it?

Can we vote on that?

[Sacajaweau]

What the hell do they think Medicare is??? People put thousands and thousands of dollars into Medicare....

and STILL HAVE TO BUY INSURANCE WHEN THEY RETIRE.

IN FACT, THE GOV IS SO KIND, THEY TAKE IT RIGHT OUT OF YOUR SS CHECK.

[Gene Eric]

The Democrats love wackin’ down HSAs.

[Le Chien Rouge]

I love the idea of HSA’s but much of congress and the bureaucrats in the federal government do not because it increases choices for the employed which while lower costs in the long run while reducing the control of the government thereby exposing government programs as the charades they actually are. JMO..

[gitmogrunt]

With an HSA the governmnet, will exclude millions of people from being able to set up an HSA account, because the individuals earn "too much", then they'll limit how much you can put in each year, and for what procedure or or meds you can use it for.

The Government will over regulate, and stifle HSA savings with taxes and limitations just like the IRA savings limit of $5-6,000 per year for retirement is a joke.

[SnakeDoctor]

Cash is the real answer.

The problem is we over insure ... which leads to third-party payers for almost all medical transactions ... which leads to extreme price inflation because of the disconnect between the consumer and the retailer.

Insurance should really be for the catastrophic only. Run-of-the-mill predictable medical expenses should be cash ... doctor’s visits, routine checkups, prescriptions, etc.

Just think what you could pay for if you had your ridiculous monthly medical premium back.

SnakeDoc

[Señor Zorro]

THE ANSWER IS THE FREE MARKET!

All right, I feel a little better now...

[Trust but Verify]

Of course HSA’s are the answer. But the Kommissars in Washington can’t support anything which gives individuals control over their money.

[FTJM]

I’ve spoken with several employees at Whole Foods Market, they love their plan and the HSA’s.

[dirtboy]

A liberal at a Tea Party protest said that the poor hicks in Central PA were too stupid to be able to manage a Health Savings Account. Captures the liberal mindset in a nutshell.

[Inwoodian]

I know it’s off-topic but if Lautenberg cannot finish his term I’d love to see Gov. Christie appoint Bret Schundler to finish it.

[Cricket24]

My husband is self-employed. When I quit my job at a bank several years ago, we opened and HSA and got a high deductible health insurance policy. ($5,000.00) At that time, premiums were low so we thought it was a great idea. Two years later, our premiums had doubled. The first year I thought it was because I had broken my ankle and needed surgery but the second year, we hadn’t used the insurance at all. Sooo we found a new health insurance company with the same HSA deductible. We love this company but this year our renewal was another $100.00 a month. It will be well over $600.00 a month plus we will pay the first $5,000.00 should we need medical care! We don’t mind paying for our own health care BUT this has gotten ridiculous to where we were almost ready to drop it but we are in our 50’s and you just never know so instead we are upping our deductible to $6,000.00 which will keep the premium almost the same has it had been last year! So if you put the $6,000.00 in your HSA and pay your yearly premiums of $6,000.00, that’s $12,000.00!

[Armando Guerra]

Heck, the government could buy everyone a high-deductible plan and save $200 BILLION! How? The estimated 2009 US per capita government expenditures on health was $3866 according to the US Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. The 2009 Federal Benefits Handbook lists the Aetna Health Fund – Consumer Driven / High Deductible Plan with premiums of $3216.46/year (and it includes covered preventive medical, vision and dental care services paid at 100% in network, along with prescription benefits). With the current US population of approximately 307 million the savings would be about $200 billion. You could use that money to assist low-income persons with their deductible. Health care costs controlled, everyone covered, no added expense. VOILA!

[The_Reader_David]

HSA’s and high deductible insurance were centerpieces of the Whole Foods CEO’s proposals that got him and his company attacked by the loony left.

Of course they’re the way to go. Actually the “Whole Foods health care plan” was a really excellent proposal, I wouldn’t change anything in it, but I’d add tort reform, interstate insurance competition, allowing mutual insurance companies into the health insurance business, and allowing people to form insurance buying coops to negotiate big-group rates for themselves or their employees (a boon to the self-insured, and small business owners).

[luckystarmom]

“potentially financially devastating event that isn’t likely to happen”

I hate comments like this.

My family had a potentially financially devasting events that happened to us.

First, I got pregnant with twins. I was on bedrest for 2 months, and in and out of the hospital. The cost for my care alone was somewhere around $50K and this was 13 years ago.

Then, the twins got sick with RSV when they were 6 weeks old. One of them was on a ventilator for an entire month. The other one has a brain injury which has caused seizures, speech problems, etc. Both of them have suffered with bad asthma throughout the years. I think their initial hospitilization was around $250K (13 years ago).

I think on average we probably have spent 10-20K a year on healthcare for our girls.

We have great insurance.

The odds were we would never have any problems like we have. Our twins were identical, so the odds of that happening is around 1 in 300 births. Then the chances they would almost die from RSV are even slimmer.

Insurance is supposed to be about covering people in unlikely events that can’t be paid for. Likely events are easy to plan and save for.

[RayChuang88]

They should also allow insurance plans to be sold across state lines on a regional basis. Imagine every state as an employee you can choose between 15-20 different health care plans--just the price competition would drive down costs in no time flat!