« United States fatter than ever | Main | Health Savings Account plans helping insure more people »
August 28, 2005
Health Savings Accounts Now Available in Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania has been one of only a handful of states in which Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) have not been available. Pennsylvania's problem is that state law mandated certain first-dollar benefits be covered by all health insurance sold in the state. HSA plans are designed to protect against major expenses, while letting the consumer cover smaller expenses like doctor visits and prescription drug expenses incurred before meeting the deductible.
Governor Rendell recently signed a bill exempting high-deductible health plans with HSAs from this mandate. Unfortunately for Pennsylvanians, the state still does not allow deductions on state income taxes for deposits into a Health Savings Account.
One of the major benefits of Health Savings Accounts is that the deposits are 100% tax deductible from federal income taxes, and from state income taxes in all but nine states. The Pennsylvania legislature will reportedly be revisiting this issue in 2006.
Posted by Wiley Long at August 28, 2005 01:10 PM