FIXING THE GAME
Ideas from the insurance industry and its supporters
Fixed Rule:
Health Savings Accounts (HSAs). Who doesn’t want a savings account? HSAs sound great, offering people the chance to pay medical bills tax-free and save for future medical costs.
But there’s a catch: HSAs force people into high-deductible health plans--health insurance policies that don’t cover health care costs until you’ve already shelled out at least $1,100 (or $2,200 for families) in 2008, even after premiums. This leaves people swamped with medical debt, forced to skip health care they need. (Learn how HSAs work with our HSA primer.)
Is it any surprise then that insurance companies think HSAs are a great idea? Karen Ignani, President and CEO of the trade group America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP), testified before Congress, urging lawmakers to expand HSAs.
HSAs do provide security--for the very wealthy, in the form of a tax shelter, as new research from Government Accountability Office indicates. And, since the high-deductible health plans get health insurance companies off-the-hook for health care, they’re happy to push this snake oil “solution.”
Fair Rule:
- A public alternative to insurance company coverage that is accountable to us.
- Fair regulation and oversight of insurance companies, with government as a watchdog.
Read more in the "Fixing the Game" Archive.
LATEST SCORECARD
Fifty-eight percent of primary care doctors in the U.S. report their patients often have difficulty paying for medications and care, and half of U.S. doctors spend substantial time dealing with restrictions insurance companies place on their patients’ care, according to the 2009 Commonwealth Fund International Health Policy Survey.
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Families saw their premiums for job-based health insurance rise to an average of $13,375 annually in 2009, with workers paying an average share of $3,515 and employers paying $9,860.
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