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September 01, 2005
CA Insurance Commissioner's Flawed Criticisms of Health Savings Accounts
CA Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi's report criticizing Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) has a lot of his opinions, but many are not backed by solid research.
For instance, he says "Financial disincentives are likely to cause many to forgo necessary treatment at early stages." However, McKinsey & Co., a management consulting firm, found that patients enrolled in consumer-directed plans are more likely to pay attention to prevention and wellness, and were 30% more likely to get an annual physical.
The complete McKinsey report can be seen at www.mckinsey.com/clientservice/payorprovider/Health_Plan_Report.pdf. HSA consumers know that if they catch a problem early, they'll save money in the long run.
Garamendi's report also makes the mistake of thinking that HSAs are making health insurance less affordable to the uninsured. In fact, the opposite is what is happening. Fully 37% of those purchasing HSAs are people who previously had no health insurance. About two-thirds of our customers at HSA for America are paying less than $100 per month for their HSA plans. Most are choosing plans that cover 100% of hospitalization, doctors' visits, lab tests, emergency room visits, and prescription drugs after the deductible is met.
Fans of one-payer socialized medicine plans are against HSAs mostly because they realize that once millions of Americans have these plans, it will be politically impossible to force them to change to a government plan.
Find more Health Savings Account inforamation at HSA for America
Posted by Wiley Long at September 1, 2005 12:21 PM