Health Savings Accounts &
Personal Responsibility

By promoting competition, the free market does a better job at delivering goods and services than any government or monopoly program.  This is a simple truth, yet too few people understand it, perhaps because of the monopolistic educational system in which they were raised.

Health Savings Accounts provide an incentive to promote this type of competitive market environment in healthcare.  HSA owners are more likely to shop with their healthcare dollars, and demand lower prices and better service.

We are already seeing the results, with doctor charges rising less in 2006 than any of the past 25 years.  There are also numerous companies springing up to serve the needs resulting from this new, consumer-driven healthcare.

So what, exactly, do Health Savings Accounts promote?  Personal responsibility, of course.

Everyone knows that their medical expenses are likely to go up as they age.  Those who take personal responsibility put money aside to cover these future expenses.  And they have no worries about paying for medical expenses during retirement.

Everyone also knows that the risk of sickness and disease increases with age.  Those who take personal responsibility eat right, exercise, and take care of themselves.  And they tend to be much more healthy and vibrant in their retirement years.

If you have an HSA, and take care of your finances and health, you will pay lower taxes, lower insurance premiums, and fewer medical bills, and you’ll have a whole lot of money in a tax-free account one day.

Health Savings Accounts seem to particularly appeal to those who resonate with this idea of personal responsibility.  I’m curious if you do.  Email me at WileyLong@HSAforAmerica.com, and let me know.

Below are some of the articles we’ve published that explore some of these ideas, and provide some tips on how you can save money.  I would also encourage you to check out Maximize Your HSA.  This is a monthly newsletter where I share tips and information that can save you money and help you maximize the benefit you get from your HSA.

All Articles are available for reprint under the following Creative Commons License: 

If you’d like a regular feed of HSA news stories, check out our Health Savings Account Blog.

Socialized Medicine or Health Savings Accounts?

Health Savings Accounts Put You in Control of Your Healthcare
Proponents of a "single-payer" healthcare system are ignoring what is going on in Canada and England.  As more Americans discover health savings accounts, the result will be lower costs, greater choice, and higher quality medical care.

Stay Healthy

How Health Savings Accounts Reduce Medical Expenses and Help You Avoid Metabolic Syndrome
Adopting certain lifestyle habits will enable you to avoid the most common diseases of aging.  Learn how a healthy lifestyle combined with a health savings account will enable you to accumulate a larger medical retirement account.

Health Savings Accounts and Chiropractic Care
How you can use a Health Savings Account to pay for chiropractic care and many other forms of alternative medicine, while saving on your taxes.

New Health Insurance - Avoid Diabetes and Heart Disease So Your Medical Retirement Acct Grows
Learn about Health Savings Accounts and how they reward individuals for staying healthy.  Adopting certain lifestyle habits should enable you to avoid the most common diseases of aging and retire healthy and wealthy.

Using a Health Savings Account to Pay for Alternative Medicine
Americans spend over $30 billion each year on complementary and alternative therapies, mostly out of their own pocket.  That is because few health insurance plans cover expenses like homeopathy, acupuncture, or Chinese medicine.  But if you own a Health Savings Account, these expenses are 100% tax deductible.

Pay Lower Taxes

Year-end Health Savings Account Tax Strategies
Year-end strategies that can help maximize your Health Savings Account.

Reduce Your Health Insurance Deductible to $100 for Accidents
Consumer driven health plans are the new trend in healthcare.  Unfortunately, the high deductibles associated with these plans can make them unattractive.  By adding a supplemental accident plan to your high deductible plan, you can reduce your risk of major medical expenses.

Pay Lower Premiums to the Insurance Company

Keeping Your Health Insurance Premiums Low
To keep their costs down, more Americans are choosing high-deductible health insurance plans that qualify to work with health savings accounts.  There are four key strategies that can keep health insurance costs as low as possible while still maintaining adequate coverage.

Pay Less Money to Doctors and Hospitals

How to Reduce Your Hospital Bills
As more people get high-deductible health insurance plans in conjunction with a health savings account, they are paying more attention to the fees they are being charged.  Savvy consumers are discovering a wide range of prices among various providers, and many ways to reduce their hospital bills and avoid over-charges.

The Medical Bill Negotiator
As medical expenses continue to rise, more consumers are taking advantage of medical bill negotiation services. These companies are familiar with the discounts negotiated by large companies, insurance companies, PPO networks, and other big players, so are familiar with what the "lowest available price" might be. If you use one of these services, you only pay if they are indeed able to negotiate a discount.

Save Money By Consulting With Your Physician By Phone
The new world of consumer-driven healthcare is opening up many opportunities for people to save money on their medical expenses.  As more people carry high deductible plans in conjunction with health savings accounts, medical providers are beginning to compete for that business in a variety of innovative ways.


Here are a variety of other Health Savings Accounts articles that we have published over the years:

Next Step:

Get an Instant HSA Quote Learn how to choose a plan ยป
HSA for America
Wiley Long Enterprises, Inc.
1001-A E. Harmony Rd. #519
Fort Collins, CO 80525
Contact Us

HSA for America's BBB Online Reliability Program