Health Savings Accounts

[glockmail]

A Health Savings Account (HSA) is a tax-advantaged medical savings account available to taxpayers in the United States who are enrolled in a High Deductible Health Plan (HDHP). The funds contributed to the account are not subject to income tax, but can only be used to pay for qualified medical expenses. HSAs were established as part of the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act which was signed into law by President Bush on December 8, 2003. These accounts are a component of Consumer Driven Health Plans.

This is an improvement over the Medical Savings Account system, as the excess funds are allowed to roll over from previous fiscal years and remain the property of the employee. In fact, the excess funds can be used similar to an IRA account. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medical_Savings_Account

Looks like the Bush Administration solved the Health Care Crisis with a system that lowers costs for consumers, helps the insurance industry to be more competitive, let's consumers control their funds and make their own choices, allows consumers to pay for medical expense tax free, and keeps the guv'mint out of the process. No wonder the MSM hasn't said a word about this.

[SassyLady]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medical_Savings_Account

Looks like the Bush Administration solved the Health Care Crisis with a system that lowers costs for consumers, helps the insurance industry to be more competitive, let's consumers control their funds and make their own choices, allows consumers to pay for medical expense tax free, and keeps the guv'mint out of the process. No wonder the MSM hasn't said a word about this.

I think it's ironic that I'm in the process of trying to determine what is the best medical benefit plan to go with for our staff (we a rapidly growing young company that needs to offer benefits to attract and retain employees and have never had anything prior to now). I heard about HSA today as a lead in to the H&C show but didn't get a chance to see what it was all about. And then, here you go and post info on it.

Thanks Glock - a very timely post for me.

[The ClayTaurus]

I think it's ironic that I'm in the process of trying to determine what is the best medical benefit plan to go with for our staff (we a rapidly growing young company that needs to offer benefits to attract and retain employees and have never had anything prior to now). I heard about HSA today as a lead in to the H&C show but didn't get a chance to see what it was all about. And then, here you go and post info on it.

Thanks Glock - a very timely post for me.I've had an HSA for just over a year now, and have been very happy. The plan my employer offers, generally, is not very conducive to families, but for singles without dependants, it's great.

[glockmail]

I think it's ironic that I'm in the process of trying to determine what is the best medical benefit plan to go with for our staff (we a rapidly growing young company that needs to offer benefits to attract and retain employees and have never had anything prior to now). I heard about HSA today as a lead in to the H&C show but didn't get a chance to see what it was all about. And then, here you go and post info on it.

Thanks Glock - a very timely post for me.

When I started expanding my company and hiring people a few years back I decided to take a hard line with this issue. In the old days we all had great plans paid for 100% by employers and that just was not feasible anymore. My policy thus became that I would pay 100% of an individual policy for a $5000 deductible plan, or 1/2 of a family, whichever was higher. The premiums then became manageable and the employee was protected from a bad illness or accident. The only problem was that the health maintenence costs were all paid for with after tax dollars. MSAs were available to get around this but in my mind they were a raw deal in that any money not used evaporated. HSAs appear to have fixed this penalty, as the money accumulates and in fact can be used to for investment purposes similar to an IRA.

BTW I learned about this from reading NewsMax magazine- an excellent source for personal financial information as well as political news that you can't get anywhere else.