Health Savings Accounts Work
by Michael F. Cannon
Cato Institute
In December 2003, President Bush signed a health-care law that had two major components. The first was the new Medicare prescription drug benefit that took effect last month. That big-government program has been widely panned as a disaster. The second was a new health insurance option called health savings accounts, or HSAs, which became available in January 2004.
Unlike the Medicare drug program, the response to HSAs has been overwhelmingly positive. In just two years, three million Americans have signed up for an HSA. More than one-third of HSA enrollees were previously uninsured, which means HSAs already may have reduced the number of uninsured by 1 million. Deloitte Consulting L.L.P. reports that, for two years running, insurance premiums for HSAs and similar plans rose at about one-third the rate of increase for other types of coverage.
So in his State of the Union address, Bush proposed expanding and enhancing HSAs. His new Medicare entitlement? He didn't even mention it. Go figure.
Cato Institute
In December 2003, President Bush signed a health-care law that had two major components. The first was the new Medicare prescription drug benefit that took effect last month. That big-government program has been widely panned as a disaster. The second was a new health insurance option called health savings accounts, or HSAs, which became available in January 2004.
Unlike the Medicare drug program, the response to HSAs has been overwhelmingly positive. In just two years, three million Americans have signed up for an HSA. More than one-third of HSA enrollees were previously uninsured, which means HSAs already may have reduced the number of uninsured by 1 million. Deloitte Consulting L.L.P. reports that, for two years running, insurance premiums for HSAs and similar plans rose at about one-third the rate of increase for other types of coverage.
So in his State of the Union address, Bush proposed expanding and enhancing HSAs. His new Medicare entitlement? He didn't even mention it. Go figure.
posted by Andy W. Rogers | 8:33 PM
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