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January 15, 2006
Health Savings Account Legislation Pending on Capitol Hill
A Health Savings Account can be a good way to improve a family’s healthcare without busting the budget. Some in Congress want to encourage greater use of this financial tool and there is a proposal on the table to create new ways for families to use Health Savings Accounts. House Speaker Dennis Hastert says Health Savings Accounts allow people to offset their health insurance deductibles by putting pre-tax money into interest bearing or investment accounts, save money and improve healthcare.
“I felt that people had to have ownership of their insurance policies. So they could have real portability, so they could have something they could make decisions on where to go to get health care and something that they had in their own pockets, that somebody else, a third party, wasn’t making those decisions all the time.”
And that’s why Virginia Congressman Eric Cantor is trying to expand the use of Health Savings Accounts through new legislation.
“The idea behind what we are trying to do is to allow the employees the same level of benefit that they get under their current healthcare insurance structure. The difference will come in the fact that they will own this account. It will be their money; the incentive will be for long-term savings in healthcare, not short-term spending.”
Dr. Dave Stevens of the Christian Medical Association calls Health Savings Accounts an excellent resource for families.
“It decreases bureaucracy, decreases filing, lets you make decisions on what you want to spend your money on, what’s reasonable and what’s not. And by doing that, people keep their health care costs down.”
The legislation will add more types of health care savings accounts. With members of congress supporting HSA Plans, Health Savings Accounts will continue to grow.
Posted by Wiley Long at January 15, 2006 09:49 AM