Hmmph. The Washington Post reports that the outgoing Congress snuck in an extra $1 billion to expand Health Savings Accounts in a final piece of legislation, with little review or oversight.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/10/AR2006121000884.htmlOn this blog, and on fact sheets on the Health Access
home page, we have detailed why we think HSAs (and the high-deductible plans they encourage) are problematic from a health care perspective. But there's also just the opportunity cost. For every dollar spent on HSAs to largely benefit upper-income folks with high-deductible plans, that's less a dollar that is available on proven programs to get patients coverage. Like SCHIP, which efficiently and effectively covers children.
Maybe there's another way to think about this: If the Congress can so easily find a billion dollars for
that, then maybe this health care issue really isn't so complicated...
posted by Anthony Wright |
Permalink |
11:44 PM
