Health Savings Accounts Attacked by Progressives

Little wonder the critics, mostly left progressive socialists big government advocates, hate this plan as it take the control away from the power brokers in Washington and puts it's in the hands of the people.


This is totally unacceptable as it lessens the ability of a progressive socialist government to force the general public into subsistence living, totally dependent on government for survival.

Health Savings Account Membership Up 18 Percent
Source: Jay Hancock, "Health Savings Account Membership Up 18 Percent," Kaiser Health News, May 30, 2012. "January 2012 Census Shows 13.5 Million People Covered by Health Savings Account/High-Deductible Health Plans (HSA/HDHPs)," American's Health Insurance Plans, May 2012.

Enrollment in health savings accounts (HSAs) grew 18 percent last year as employers continued to steer workers into high-deductible medical plans, according to an annual census by America's Health Insurance Plans, an industry lobby.

•HSA membership rose from 11.4 million in January 2011 to 13.5 million in January 2012, with most of the growth occurring in plans offered by large employers.
•Since 2008 HSA membership has more than doubled.
•States with the highest portion of HSA enrollees were Vermont, at 20 percent; Minnesota, with 14 percent; and Montana and Utah, both with 12 percent.
•Fifty-nine percent of HSA enrollment was in large-group plans, up from 55 percent last year.
•AHIP surveyed 97 insurance companies for its census.

Created by legislation in 2003, HSAs let employers and workers make tax-free contributions to finance out-of-pocket medical costs. They differ from the better-known flexible spending health accounts because with HSAs unspent money can be rolled over from one year to the next. Leftover money in flex accounts reverts to the plan sponsor.

Also, HSAs always are paired with high deductible insurance coverage -- at least $1,200 for individuals and $2,400 for families. The idea behind HSAs is to contain medical inflation and make patients smarter consumers by giving them a bigger stake in health care purchases. Critics, however, contend that such "consumer-directed" health plans are simply a way for employers to shift costs to workers.