Don't know if you have learned much about Health Savings Accounts? Called HSAs, these are developed within the US tax code as a means for people to pay for medical expenses not covered by their health insurance plans. The way I see it, HSAs are an okay idea, as far as they go... But they are flawed.
Congress should permit people to participate in HSAs regardless of whether or not they participate in a high deductible "catastrophic" health plan. Right now you can't have an HSA without also paying for expensive health insurance.
Think of it, wouldn't it be great if you could build up a savings account that you use to pay for your health needs? And what if the government gave you all sorts of incentives to build this account? Then you could have cash money to allocate toward your own (and your family's) health needs.
This almost sounds like an HSA, except with and HSA you have to pay big premiums on a high deductible health insurance plan. Problem is, most people will never use that insurance because they'll never have a catastrophic health need.
We could, you know, make both the liberals and the conservatives happy (I know, I know, ain't ever gonna happen). What if the government covered catastrophic health care needs (making liberals happy) and then gave us incentives (tax breaks, matching grants) to build up our own health accounts? Wouldn't we make wiser health decisions? Wouldn't that accomplish the free market, personal responsibility buzz words that conservatives talk about?
Hmm, makes me wonder why they don't do it this way. Could it be that insurance companies have lobbied to make sure they aren't taken out of the equation?
I wish Washington DC could make simple solutions...
Congress should permit people to participate in HSAs regardless of whether or not they participate in a high deductible "catastrophic" health plan. Right now you can't have an HSA without also paying for expensive health insurance.
Think of it, wouldn't it be great if you could build up a savings account that you use to pay for your health needs? And what if the government gave you all sorts of incentives to build this account? Then you could have cash money to allocate toward your own (and your family's) health needs.
This almost sounds like an HSA, except with and HSA you have to pay big premiums on a high deductible health insurance plan. Problem is, most people will never use that insurance because they'll never have a catastrophic health need.
We could, you know, make both the liberals and the conservatives happy (I know, I know, ain't ever gonna happen). What if the government covered catastrophic health care needs (making liberals happy) and then gave us incentives (tax breaks, matching grants) to build up our own health accounts? Wouldn't we make wiser health decisions? Wouldn't that accomplish the free market, personal responsibility buzz words that conservatives talk about?
Hmm, makes me wonder why they don't do it this way. Could it be that insurance companies have lobbied to make sure they aren't taken out of the equation?
I wish Washington DC could make simple solutions...
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