Individuals
and families now have the opportunity to get a Health Savings
Plan which can save them substantial amounts of money on their
health insurance. A Health
Savings Plan is created by combining high deductible health
plans HDHP
with health savings accounts. These savings plans help the
consumer be loweing their health insurance premiums and generating
considerable tax savings.
A
key concept to health savings accounts is the role a High Deductible
Health Plan will play. Every individual or family with a
high
deductible health insurance plan will be more responsible
with their high deductible health insurance because the money
will come out of their health savings account. Any money
not spent on the high deductible health insurance can be saved
over the years. High deductible health insurance is what
makes health savings account such a great deal.
In a Health
Savings Account related article entitled “Health Care in
the 21st Century”, published in the New England Journal of
Medicine, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, M.D., made several
suggestions on ways to provide all Americans with lifelong, affordable
health insurance. One of the key aspects of his vision is
a system that is responsive primarily to individual consumers,
rather than to third-party payers. This health insurance
concept is known as consumer-driven health care.
A Health Savings
Account, also known as a Medical
Savings Plan, will play an important role in this concept.
The key aspect
to enabling consumer-driven health care was the creation of tax-free
Health Savings Accounts (HSAs). The Health
Savings Accounts legislation was part of the Medicare Modernization
Act (Public Law 108-173). “Health Savings Accounts,
coupled with affordable high deductible insurance policies, give
health savings account consumers more control over their health
care choices and hard earned dollars. HSA plans give people
a greater stake in their own health care. The HSA
plans can move with employees from job to job and can be rolled
over year to year. Health Savings Accounts should increase
demand for greater information and transparency.” You can
find up to the minute industy news at HSA for America's Health
Savings Account Blog.
The other
factor in play is the financial motivation the individual will
have to stay healthy. The vast majority of HSA health care
spending today is due to degenerative diseases such as high blood
pressure, diabetes, metabolic syndrome, cardiovascular disease,
and other modern ailments that are primarily the result of lifestyle
choices. With a good HSA
health plan, the consumer who wisely spends his HSA dollars
on preventative care (which can be done tax-free wiht an HSA)
and pays attention to diet and exercise could be rewarded with
a substantial amount of money in their HSA
by age 65. After age 65, you will want to look into Medicare
Supplement Insurance and find out what options you have.
Also known
a Medical
Savings Account, they give individuals a new way to pay for health
care. Under traditional medical insurance, people make monthly
premium payments to an insurer, and the insurer pays medical bills.
With Medical
Savings Accounts, people can confine medical insurance to
catastrophic coverage (say, expenses above $3,000), reduce their
monthly medical insurance premium payments and make deposits to
a Medical Savings
Account instead. Medical insurance would pay for expensive
treatments that occur infrequently, while individuals would use
their MSA funds to pay small bills covering routine services.
Understanding
Medicare Supplements - If you are interested in Medicare Supplement
Insurance, you can find extensive information on Medicare
Supplement Plans including Blue
Cross Medicare Supplement plans, Medicare
Supplement Plan F, and Plans A - J. Learn all about
Medicare Supplements, compare your options, get instant quotes
on Medicare Supplement Plans, and Save!
Health
Savings Accounts in the News
Health Spending Accounts can help Canadians stretch their health care dollars (The Canadian Press via Yahoo! Canada News)
TORONTO - The health spending account may be one of the best-kept secrets when it comes to tax-free breaks.
On Health Bill, G.O.P.’s Road Is a New Map (New York Times)
Republicans this month will bring President Obama a set of ideas and a more modest health care plan.
GOP: Back to drawing board on health care (USA Today)
Republicans in Congress offered a tepid response Monday to President Obama's call to start a new round of bipartisan talks on health care.
GOP: Back to drawing board on health care (USA Today)
Republicans in Congress offered a tepid response Monday to President Obama's call to start a new round of bipartisan talks on health care, arguing that the current Democratic legislation is unsalvageable.
N.J., Tenn. And Florida Battling Growing Medicaid Costs; Need For Health Care For Parolees In Calif. (Medical News Today)
Medicaid costs in many states are expanding deficits while lawmakers and the public struggle to keep up with the growth in health costs.NJBIZ reports, New Jersey's budget deficit has grown $170 million to $180 million because of Medicaid costs, according to a legislative budget officer. "Savings in the Medicaid program that were projected for this year have not materialized, according to David J ...
A Bipartisan Health Care Reform Summit? (ABC News)
No do-overs: Will there be a bipartisan health care reform summit?
Health Savings Accounts Rise 30 Percent at Chase in 2009 (Business Wire via Yahoo! Finance)
NEW YORK----Chase today announced that its Health Savings Account business has grown by 30 percent over the last year, adding more than 115,000 accounts and $220 million in deposits.
Health care embezzler sentenced to 15 months (Deseret News)
SALT LAKE CITY — A Salt Lake man who abused his position in a health care company to swindle more than $160,000 was...
Health Care: Rx for MBA Job-Hunting Blues (BusinessWeek)
Health care is one of the few bright spots in an otherwise dismal job picture and reform, if it happens, will make it brighter still
It’s time to take an American approach to health care reform (The Kansas City Star)
It’s still stunning to think that health care reform is sitting dead in the water. The underlying cause is Americans’ distaste of top-down, far-reaching efforts. The country doesn’t cotton to elites imposing policy against popular will. We’re not Europe.
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