Here are some execerpt from the President’s speech at the 2006 Presidential Dinner:

You know ours is the party that came here to Washington, D.C. and saw a Medicare system that wasn’t working. The Democrats were great about talking about making Medicare work; they could never get anything done. And we did. People say, what did you care about Medicare for? I cared about it because the government has made a commitment to the elderly to provide good healthcare. And once — my view is, once you make a commitment, you got to honor the commitment. And I saw a Medicare system that wasn’t working and so did a lot of the Republicans in the United States Congress.

I’ll give you an example of why it wasn’t working. We had a Medicare system that would pay $25,000 for surgery, but not one single dime for the prescription drugs that could prevent those surgeries from being needed in the first place. The system was old. It was tired. It wasn’t working. And Republicans came together to make sure we had a Medicare system that delivered modern medicine for our seniors. And if you’re a poor senior in America, we give you help. The days from choosing between an electricity bill and medicine are over, thanks to the Republican Party. (Applause.)

There is more work to be done when it comes to making sure health care is available and affordable. That’s why we support association health plans to help small businesses be able to afford health insurance. That’s why we support health savings accounts, so you’re in control of the health decisions. That’s why we support the advent of information technology to help bring excess costs out of the systems. And in order to make sure healthcare is available and affordable, we strongly support medical liability reform. We got to make sure these junk lawsuits stop running good doctors out of practice, and stop running up your bills.

Click here for the full transcript.

Technorati Tags: President Bush, Presidential Dinner, HSA News

Here is an interesting blurb I wanted to share from realclearpolitics.com concerning HSA’s. It seems the author is seeing the outspoken opponents of HSA’s for what they really are:

Like any change to the status quo, HSAs have powerful and vocal enemies. Liberal activists groups, policy analysts, and members of the media are attacking HSAs, claiming that only young, healthy, and well heeled Americans will find the innovative arrangements attractive. “You’re giving them peanuts,” gripes Columbia University professor Sherry Glied who authored an anti-HSA study for the Commonwealth Fund. “Very few people will gain insurance coverage because of tax preferences for health savings accounts.”

The evidence so far contradicts the critics. Health Savings Accounts have proven popular with both individuals and employers. Although a significant change from traditional medical insurance, more than three million Americans are now covered by HSAs.

Bravo to realclearpolitics.com for removing fear of change and personal agendas from the equation, and seeing all the good that health savings accounts can do.

Related Posts:
Sen. Santorum on HSA’s
Harsh Posturing concerning HSA’s

Technorati Tags: Politics, Health Care Policy, HSA’s, Health Savings Accounts

In a recent Washington Post article, Steven Barr discusses pending legislation to allow Blue Cross Blue Shield to add another health plan to their stable - a high deductible health plan that would allow Federal Employees access to HSA’s.  According to the Office of Personnel Management, this move could save over $1.1 Billion over the next five years.
From the article:

In a letter to congressional leaders, the OPM said the administration estimated that allowing Blue Cross to add a high-deductible plan would save $1.1 billion over five years and $3.4 billion over 10 years in program costs.

This is yet another step in the White House’s efforts to provide health care consumers better choice and control over their health care dollars:

The White House has championed high-deductible plans that offer health savings accounts, or HSAs, as a way for consumers to take more control of their spending for medical care. With an HSA, an enrollee makes a tax-deductible contribution to a savings account. The account is used for routine medical costs, tax-free, and the high-deductible plan covers serious illness or injury.

Related Posts:
Sen. Santorum on HSA’s
Harsh Posturing concerning HSA’s

HT:Msaver Agent Portal

Technorati Tags: HSA’s, Health Savings Accounts, Federal Employee Benefits, Blue Cross Blue Shield

In an article written for the The Pueblo Chieftan, U.S. Rep. Bill Thomas (R-California) had this to say about HSA’s:

Similar to the growing list of Americans buying hybrid cars to combat the high cost of gas, today more than three million Americans have opted for an innovative health insurance option called a health savings account to rein in the cost of health care. Here’s how it works: like a hybrid car powered by a combination of gas and electricity, HSAs combine a high-deductible health plan and a tax-free savings account.”

Hat Tip: HSA Focal Point

Technorati Tags: HSA’s, Health Savings Accounts, Rep.  Bill Thomas

Published today at TheHill.com, Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.) offers up his thoughts on the impending health care crisis, specificially the cost of frivilous lawsuits and rising insurance premiums.  In keeping with the theme of this site, we won’t got too far into frivilous and excessive malpractice lawsuits - Santorum does that for us.

On the topic of rising insurance premiums - it’s no secret that we are approaching crisis mode.  The rising costs of insurance will hopefully begin to be offset by increased adoption of HSA’s - which can help decrease your premiums, and keep more of your health care dollars under your control.

Technorati Tags: Politics, Rick Santorum, Health Care

ThinkProgress.org published some pretty harsh words for President Bush and the administration’s plan to push the popularity of health savings accounts. Now - while an HSA does not make sense for everyone, I hate to see such blind hatred of the system, simply based on the fact the administration is pushing it. Here are some responses to their points:

Point 1- HSA’s will undermine the employer based health care systerm. This will offer an excuse for employers, who are struggling under current health care costs to drop coverage and force employees to find individual insurance policies.

The Truth: Employers are already dropping coverage - why? Insurance premiums continue to increase dramatically. What HSA’s will provide is a cost effective alternative for employers to offer their workers - allowing them to cut costs (especially in small businesses) while still offering health care plans. The alternative is that employers are forced to drop health benefits or go out of business. That’s not good for anyone. See the Wendy’s HSA Story for more info.

Point 2 - HSA users pay more out of pocket costs.

The Truth: Of course they do. That’s how the system works. You take the money that you would give to the insurance company, and you get to keep it, earn interest on it, and use it when you need it. If you’re chronically ill - an HSA isn’t for you, but for your average American, you have more money at the end of the year through the HSA program than through a CDHP.

Point 3 - HSA’s likely to increase the ranks of the uninsured

The Truth: Only if employers drop care completely. Which, is likely if the are forced to continue to pay inflated insurance premiums. However, most employers view HSA’s as a cost effective alternative that they can offer their employees. That, coupled with the increased affordability of the program, and the potential to drive down health care costs overall, means HSA’s will likely INCREASE the number of people with some sort of health insurance.

In summary - posts like the one from ThinkProgress show the danger of partisan bickering when it comes to health care. While I don’t claim that HSA’s are the end-all answer to the health care crisis - they offer an alternative, which is very much needed. However, they should have no fear over there, no one is going to force them to stop overpaying their insurance premiums and let the big companies they seem to loathe continue to make their health care decisions for them - they can just ignore those of us that choose to take control of our health care dollars ourselves.

Technorati Tags: ThinkProgress, Health Savings Accounts, Bush Health Plan

Treasure Secretary John Snow had these comments at the April 19th World Health Care Congress:

My guess is that the divisions now within the Republican party in the House will make it impossible for them to pass [legislation] with solid Republican votes, which is what they’ve had to do the past couple of years

The legislation in question is the expansion of the yearly maximum contributions - something that would increase adoption, and help lower the cost of healthcare for those that use them.

More from Snow:

Nobody buys auto insurance to cover busted windshield wiper blades, Snow said in remarks at the World Health Care Congress. Instead, car insurance is used to cover the improbable, but very costly, event, Snow said. The health savings accounts take us that way in healthcare.

Linking HSAs to high-deductible health plans would create a more consumer-driven healthcare system, Snow said. “Consumers of health care with an HSA are going to compare costs and ask more questions about pricing.”

A desire for insurance that covers every service when not every service is needed has contributed to rising healthcare costs, Snow added.

HT: Tax News

Technorati Tags: Politics, HSA Legislation

This is the official launch of the “Truth about HSA’s” website. The mission of this site is to help get HSA information in front of people who need it, and let people who wouldn’t benefit from them know as well. This site will strive to be a resource for unbiased HSA information - without all the political mumbo-jumbo that has come along with them.

So - come back soon, and check out what we have to offer.

For more information - check out the About and Legal pages.

Technorati Tags: HSA’s, Health Savings Accounts, Health Care